Helen Louise Wineberg, 97
Helen Louise Wineberg was born in Rochester Mills on May 10, 1925, to Merl and Ida (Smith) Henry and older brother Quay. She went home to heaven on July 21, 2022, at the age of 97.
Helen met her husband, Robert (Bob), during World War II. He had joined the Navy, and, after a brief courtship, they married prior to Bob’s departure on a ship bound for Naples, Italy. When Bob returned home following the war, the couple settled in Locust, where they welcomed two daughters, Janice in June 1947 and Carolyn in January 1949.
The passing years brought frequent moves as Bob worked as a boilermaker for several companies. Wherever the family settled, Helen cheerfully made every house a home. She also worked at a variety of jobs from factory assembly lines to bakery sales to the heavy labor of caring for the cows on a dairy farm the couple built in Markville, Minnesota.
Of all her many jobs, Helen’s favorite task was cleaning houses. Finally, at age 85, she declared she was retiring from cleaning for others. Those years of energetic physical activity kept her remarkably strong and healthy.
Wherever Helen and Bob lived, her life was centered around faith and family. Settling into a new community always began with finding a church home. She welcomed opportunities to work on household projects with her daughters’ families and delighted in her grandchildren and greatgrandchildren. Helen was unfailingly gracious to friend and stranger alike and always put the needs of others ahead of her own, qualities that added life-long friendships along the way.
Widowed in 1990, Helen sold the farm and moved to Pine City, Minnesota, where she enjoyed many years of bus trips, cruises, church activities, quilting, gardening, and pet sitting for family and friends. In 2011, as her memory began to fail, Helen moved to Golden Oaks Apartments in Frederic, Wisconsin, to be closer to family. As her Alzheimer’s disease progressed, Helen moved to Traditions of Frederic Assisted Living in 2017, where she kept her room immaculately clean and continued to ask care center staff to let her help with dusting, dishes, etc. She was never one to be idle. In June 2021, after a fall that broke her hip, Helen entered the Burnett Medical Center Continuing Care Center in Grantsburg, Wisconsin.
The family expresses heartfelt thanks for the loving care and kindness shown to Helen by the wonderful staff at both facilities. While Alzheimer’s robbed her of her memories and health, it never took her feisty spirit and kind heart.
Helen was preceded in death by her parents, Merl and Ida Henry; husband Robert Wineberg; brother Quay Henry; sister-in-law Betty Henry; and greatgrandson Noah.
She will be deeply missed by her daughters, Janice (John) Gustafson of Frederic, Wisconsin, and Carolyn (Greg) Hedin of Fort Myers, Florida; seven grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; and other relatives and friends.
Her life will be celebrated at a private family memorial service held on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, in Pine City, Minnesota, with burial next to her husband at Birchwood Cemetery, Pine City.
Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Funeral and Cremation Service of Pine City ~ Swanson Chapel.