Helen Berky

Helen Berky Mathematician and Mother Helen Berky died on February 28, 2015 at age 88. She was born in Enderlin, N.D., on June 3, 1926. After graduating from Enderlin High School as class valedictorian, she took employment in Washington D.C., working in the Naval Hydrographics Office until the end of WWII. Helen returned to North Dakota after the war to earn a B.S. in mathematics and education at North Dakota State University. She met her future husband John J. Berky at NDSU in chemistry class. John and Helen married in 1950. While her husband completed his M.S. and Ph.D. in microbiology at Penn state, Helen worked at the Naval Ordnance Research Laboratory, at one point becoming Math Section Head, while assisting in the design of the Mark 16 torpedo. After moving to Little Rock, in 1960, Helen taught math and science in parochial and public schools for 17 years. During that time she also earned a M.S. in Mathematics. After their retirement, Helen and her husband moved to Hot Springs in 1989 to enjoy fishing and camping and traveling in their R.V. Helen was preceded in death by her daughter, Michelle Huddleston and her husband John. She leaves behind two children, Mark Berky and Jacquelyn Connell, and two grandchildren, John Michael Huddleston and Regina Elizabeth Huddleston. Services will be held at Our Lady of the Holy Souls church in Little Rock on Saturday, March 7 at 10 AM. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to any Alzheimer’s association. Arrangements are by Griffin Leggett Healey & Roth.