Mary Ellen Bergin

Mary Ellen “Mel” (Phelan) Bergin, 90, passed away on Thursday morning, June 20, at the Cheshire House in Waterbury. She was the widow of Edward K. Bergin.

Mel was born March 20, 1929 in Waterbury, daughter of the late Joseph T. and Helen (Dechon) Phelan, Sr. Raised in Waterbury, she was a graduate of Saints Peter and Paul Grammar School, Waterbury Catholic High School and Fisher College and Skidmore College.

She was a past president of the Junior Division Waterbury Council of Catholic Women, a board member of the United Way and was an advisor to the C.Y.O. of the Hartford Diocese. Active in the Democratic Party, she was an officer of the Democratic Women’s Booster Club and the New Haven County Democratic Club.

A former resident of Attleboro, MA, she was an active member of St. John the Evangelist Parish, having served as organizer of the Ladies Guild, served as a member of the CCD Board and the Catholic Charities. Mel was an active member of the Sturdy Memorial Hospital Auxiliary and volunteered at the hospital. She was an officer of the American Heart Association, the Democratic Party, an active member and officer of the Attleboro Branch of the American Association of University Women and a member of the Skidmore College Alumni Club.

Upon returning to Waterbury Mel was president of the Saints Peter and Paul Madonna Guild, a Eucharistic minister, the Mattatuck Museum, the AARP, the Silas Bronson Library and held several offices in the Waterbury Branch of the American Association of University Women. On the National level she was one of the organizers of the Catholic College Fair, now known as the College fair Night in America.

She is survived by her foster-brother, George Crocicchia of Silver Spring, MD and many nieces, nephews and cousins. In addition to her husband she was predeceased by her brothers, Francis J. Phelan, Walter D. Phelan and Joseph T. Phelan, Jr.

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