Helen T. (powers) Fenton

Hampstead, N.H. – Helen Powers Fenton, 86, a 55-year resident of Hampstead, N.H., died peacefully on May 30, 2013, surrounded by loving family members.
Helen was born in Boston, MA, and was the daughter of Irish immigrants James Powers and Annie O'Leary. She was raised in Dover, MA, and graduated from Dover High School. Helen went on to earn an Associate Degree from Katharine Gibbs School, Boston, MA. Afterwards, she took a turn managing the family-owned Powers Stable.
Helen and her former husband, James "Whitey" Fenton, ran a successful and well-known show-horse business (American Saddlebreds) throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
Helen worked at Brooks School, North Andover, MA, from 1973 to 1991, serving as Secretary to the Headmaster from 1974 until her retirement. She was awarded the Trustees' Prize during graduation ceremonies in 1988.
In the 1970s, Helen returned to the horse business on a part-time basis, working as a show steward and judge at shows throughout New England. She eventually moved on to a long "second career" in show management, retiring in 2010. In 2009, Helen received national recognition by being named the United Professional Horsemen's Association (UPHA) Horse Show Manager of the Year. Some of her other notable awards after having spent a lifetime associated with the horse business include: UPHA Lifetime Achievement Award, New England Morgan Horse Show Hall of Fame, and the Deerfield Fair Horse Show Hall of Fame.
Helen is survived by her children, James Fenton and his wife Lee, Haverhill, MA; Michael Fenton and his wife Judith, Lenoir City, TN; Peter Fenton and his wife Janice Giles, Pleasureville, KY; Anne Canniff and her husband Robert, Atkinson, N.H.; Stephen Fenton and his wife Catherine, E. Hampstead, N.H. She was predeceased by her grandson Matthew Fenton, and is survived by six grandchildren—Shaye Matthews, Daniel, Michael, and Thomas Canniff, and Nora and Clara Fenton; she had two great-grandchildren, Nicholas and Grace Matthews.