She lived some of her childhood with her maternal grandparents, the Cliftons, on a farm, attending a one room school house with her younger sister, Mid, who is deceased. Her father worked for the railroad and took her on a trip to Fort Dodge when she was young. Moving with her family to New Smyrna, Florida when she was in grade school, her father worked as a train conductor on the Florida East Coast. Her dad had railroad passes and they used them a lot.
Helen learned the Charleston as a little girl. A cousin, Vivian, tried to do the Charleston, too. Helen's grandmother said Vivian couldn't do it as well as she could!
She graduated from High School in Milwaukee, where her father had become a switchman for the railroad there. Helen wanted to be a nurse. She eventually took secretarial courses and completed two years of College at Marquette University in Milwaukee.
Helen met her husband, Robert Russell, at the Eagles Club in Milwaukee, a popular dance hall in the day. After dating for two years, they were married in 1938. She says she was "crazy about dancing." Robert Russell had a degree in Chemical Engineering and eventually ran the Facilities Plant at Marquette, from which he retired. Helen later worked at the Marquette Medical School and loved all the young people there.
Together, Helen and Robert raised three successful children, and they all traveled a lot as a family, before air conditioned cars! They retired to Sun City Center, Florida, and played lots of golf there.
Helen was a Methodist until she married Robert, when she converted to Catholicism. She and her husband belonged to the Third Order of Carmelites, a lay religious organization. Members took vows and faithfully prayed the Divine Office daily. Helen was a devout Catholic. She was especially devoted to the Blessed Virgin, the Legion of Mary, and St.Therese the Little Flower, as well as many other Saints.
Helen played Bridge, was a excellent artist, who produced lovely water colors and pastels, which will be treasured by her family. She had an eye for fine things. She embroidered and knitted almost daily close to the end of her life. Bedridden in her living room she looked at two small framed pictures on the wall and said she'd like to paint some flowers for those frames. She was never really finished with all the things she wanted to do.
Helen was preceded in death by her husband of fifty plus years, Robert Russell; and daughter, Carole Hilmer.
She is survived by her son, Robert Russell and his wife Judy; daughter, Helen Misiak and her husband Larry; eight grandchildren; eighteen great-grandchildren; and son-in-law, Robert Hilmer.
Friends are invited to a visitation with the family from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, Wednesday, April 15, 2015, at The Settegast-Kopf Co. @ Sugar Creek, 15015 Southwest Freeway, Sugar Land, TX 77478, with a Rosary to be recited at 7:00 PM.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 AM, Thursday, April 16, 2015, at Holy Family Catholic Church, 1510 Fifth St., Missouri City, TX 77489.
For those desiring, donations in Helen's memory may be made to Holy Family Catholic Church.
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