Dr Helen O'Brien Cullina

CULLINA. Dr. Helen (O’Brien) Cullina, 91, wife of the late Dr. Joseph Cullina, formerly of West Hartford and Naples, FL, died Saturday, October 11, 2014, in West Orange, NJ. Born in Springfield, MA, the daughter of the late William and Alice (Royce) O’Brien, she graduated from the American International College in Springfield, and Boston University School of Medicine in 1948. She interned at D.C. General Hospital and served her medical residency at Georgetown Hospital. She was an instructor in Pediatrics at Georgetown Medical School from 1951-1954 and opened a private pediatric practice in Rockville, MD. In 1954 she married her husband Joseph and moved to West Hartford where they raised their five children. She retained the name Dr. O’Brien for her professional career. She worked for the Hartford Health Department and was an Associate Clinical professor at UConn Medical School from 1979-1989. In 1989 she received an honorary degree from American International College. Dr. O’Brien Cullina was a member of many medical boards including the Connecticut chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics and was a member of the courtesy staff of St. Francis Hospital until her retirement. She is survived by her five children and their spouses, Michael Cullina and his wife Catherine Bancroft of Merion Station, PA, Kathleen Cullina-Bessey and her husband David Bessey of Montclair, NJ, Brian Cullina and his wife Sophia Cheng of Shaker Heights, OH, Joseph Cullina, Jr. and his wife Karen Cullina of Trumbull, Carol Cunha and her husband Paul Cunha of Jefferson, NH; 11 grandchildren; Jane, Alice, Luke, Colin, Samuel, Katherine, Alexander, Margaret, Caitlin, Joseph III, and Thaddeus. Her sister, Julie O’Brien, predeceased her. The funeral will be Wednesday beginning with visitation at 9:00 a.m. at St. Peter Claver Church, 47 Pleasant St., West Hartford, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 a.m. Burial will be in Fairview Cemetery, West Hartford. Donations in her memory may be made to the Development Office of St. Francis Hospital, 114 Woodland St., Hartford, CT 06105, or to Boston University School of Medicine, Office of Development, 72 East Concord Street L-219, Boston, MA 02118. Online expressions of sympathy may be made at www.molloyfuneralhome.com.