PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Born Aug. 23, 1926, in Pittsfield to Anthony and E. Victoria Bertelli, she attended local schools and graduated from Pittsfield High School in 1944.

After graduation, she was employed by the United States Signal Corps as a cryptographic clerk in Washington D.C., where she met and married her husband, James P. Cooper. They returned to Pittsfield, where she was employed in the Power Transformer Dept. of the General Electric Company for eight years.

After the death of her husband in 1950, she moved to California and was employed in municipal government as Field Assistant to the County Supervisor in Camarillo, Calif., and Executive Assistant to the City Manager of Ventura, Calif.

She entered the Peace Corps as a volunteer in 1980 and served two years in Leyte, Philippines as a community health volunteer, working with medical teams to help promote preventative medicine use in rural areas.

Upon her return to the United States, she was employed by the Peace Corps as a recruiter in San Diego, Calif. a placement officer in New York and a legal eligibility specialist in Washington, D.C. She retired in 1993.

She traveled extensively to over thirty countries on five continents. She was an avid reader and enjoyed listening to music, particularly the Blues.

Helen graduated from San Diego College. She also attended Instituto Mexicano-Norteamericano in Mexico City and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, studying Spanish Language and Mexican History.

She volunteered locally as a tutor for English as a Second Language for the Pittsfield Adult Education Program and served as a docent at Herman Melville's Arrowhead for several years.

She was a member of the Peace Corps World Wise School Program, the National Council of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and the Peace Corps Foundation for Philippine Development.

She is survived by her daughter Connie Cooper and husband Ray, her great-grandson, Jace Keith, her grandchildren, Noah and Abbey Keith and predeceased by their father, Stuart Keith. She also leaves many longtime friends.

Dery Funeral Home is handling the arrangements. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in her name to HospiceCare in the Berkshires in care of the funeral home, 54 Bradford St, Pittsfield, MA 01201.