Passed away peacefully in her sleep early Tuesday morning, August 3rd, joining her beloved husband, Don, in Heaven. In addition to her husband, she was preceded in passing by her parents, John and Maxine Sweetman, of Canton, SD, two infant children, John and Patricia, and her younger brother, James, of Omaha, NE. She lived a long, faith-filled life not without its challenges. A deep, abiding faith in God sustained her so that she never felt she suffered a day in her life. Her passing from this life was as holy, glorious, inspirational, and classy as she was. She will be so dearly missed, but left us fully and completely confident knowing that we all will be together again soon enough.
She is survived by her sons Tom (Kathy) of Lino Lakes, MN and Tim (Carmella) of St. Paul, MN; grandchildren Ruth of New York, NY, Tom of Eugene, OR, and Jack of Eugene, OR; and sisters, Elizabeth (Frank, dec.) DeGaetano of Aurora, IL and Patricia (Charles, dec.) Danielski of Greenfield, MA.
Memorial Mass will take place at Curé of Ars Catholic Church on Friday August 13th at 3 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials in her name to the American Diabetes Association are preferred.
Helen was a wonderful friend to me. When I first worked with her, before she retired, she made me feel like one of the gang. She was the veteran when I came along. I shared an office with her for several years. When she retired, we still went out for lunch and dinner every month or so while she was still in St. Louis. We shared Chardonnay and had a lot of laughs. I stayed in contact with her after she moved to St. Paul and will miss her kindness, her optimism and her ability to always see the better side of things — after she gave her heartfelt opinion of how things really were, of course.
So long, Helen. I feel like I will now have a good friend in the heavens.
We loved Helen and will continue to pray for her. I sang in the choir with her at Cure’ of Ars for many years and we used to go for Sunday brunch with her frequently. She was a good friend and neighbor. I will be honored to sing for her on the 13th. Terry and Ed Schermann