Helen Griswold Shipley

Helen Griswold (Weingard) Shipley was born in Oil City, Pennsylvania on December 4th, 1944 and passed away peacefully on July 19th, 2021 at the age of 76. Helen graduated from Mount Union College and received her Master of Education degree from Michigan State University. Helen started her career as an elementary school teacher in Huntsville, Alabama before moving to Haslett to start her family. She taught at Haslett Public Schools for 29 years before her retirement in 2001. Helen was a trail blazer, and was known for her tough love and creative interventions for 5th graders, kindergarten students, Gifted and Talented students through the QUEST Program, and Title One Math students at Ralya and Murphy school. Helen loved her time at Winter Camp and bringing her students to the lake to teach them about water testing; she was passionate about protecting the Lake Lansing Watershed. Helen poured every ounce of her love and energy into teaching and influencing students, but she had no intention of slowing down in retirement.

Helen lived her life to the fullest and had so much fun! She was a spitfire, and always the life of the party. Her happiest days were traveling to the Caribbean with friends, Hobie Cat regattas, teaching Chinese cooking classes, cross country skiing, pitching in the co-ed softball league (where she earned the name Birdie), ice boating, winters in Florida, karaoke dance parties in her living room, days on the boat, traveling the world, mentoring others, and spending time with her family. She is survived by her daughters, Kristen (Scott) Dawson of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Barb (Patrick) Groom of Dewitt, Michigan, grandchildren Olivia, Sophia and Christopher Dawson and grandchildren Samuel and Claire Groom, siblings Robert (Joann) Weingard of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Barbara (John) Spratt of Charlotte, North Carolina, several nieces and nephews and good friends. She is preceded in death by her parents Robert F. Weingard, Katherine Weingard, her little brother John Weingard, many dear friends, and beloved dogs Meagan Marie, Melissa Marie, and Saba.

In 2018 Helen was diagnosed with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP). Although she was stripped of many of her physical abilities, she retained her sense of humor, her quick wit, her hilarious stories, and her appreciation for time well spent with those who loved her. She still found joy in the smallest things in life, including family reunions, pontoon boat rides, good food, belly laughs, naughty stories, reminiscing with friends and family, and spending quality time with her children and grandchildren. Despite a hard year of isolation due to COVID-19, Helen somehow still felt connected. Helen was so thankful and knew that she was so loved. Helen spent one of her last days on this earth fishing, riding on the boat, laughing, visiting with friends, and cracking us all up with her stories. For that, we are so thankful.

A memorial service will be held at 2 pm on Friday, August 13th at Gorsline Runciman Funeral Homes Dewitt Chapel at 205 E. Washington. Visitation will be held from 12 pm to 2 pm prior to the service at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Foundation for Haslett Schools in Helen’s name. We would like to thank our mom’s loving, compassionate caregivers at Brookdale Assisted Living and at Sparrow Hospital during her final days. We know the work you do is hard, and we are so very grateful that you cared for her with love, respect, patience, and humor.

The family invites those who are unable to attend the service in-person to click the following link for a live broadcast of the memorial service starting at 2PM: https://webcast.funeralvue.com/events/viewer/58536