Obit: Hemp, Helen M. (1907 - 2010)

Contact: Dolores Mohr Kenyon

Email: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 
 

Surnames: Hemp, Ruege, Eisentraut, Olafson, Beierle, Syth, Allen 
 

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI.) March 17, 2010 
 

Hemp, Helen M. (18 January 1907 - 11 March 2010) 
 

Helen M. Hemp, 103, a long time Rochester, MN resident and homemaker, passed away March 11, 2010, at Charter House, where she had lived since 1991. 
 

She was born Jan. 18, 1907 (which she always has said, "was a long time ago") to Alvin and Rose (Ruege) Eisentraut on a farm in Globe area in Clark County, near Neillsville.  She attended a country school and graduated from Neillsville High School.  She attended teachers’ training and taught for two years in a country school near Neillsville.  She married Paul L. Hemp of Neillsville Oct. 8, 1928.  They lived briefly in Winona, MN, and then moved to Rochester, MN, in 1932, where their two children, Carl and Ann, were born. 
 

The Hemps owned and operated the Hemp Antique Car Museum near Byron for many years before selling the vehicles to Bonanzaville of West Fargo, ND.  While the museum was in Rochester, it displayed over 40 cars and vehicles, including several horse-drawn Mayo vehicles on loan from the Mayo Foundation, including the first ambulance, which is now on display at the Mayo Clinic. 
 

She worked briefly at the Mayo Diet Kitchen in the early 1930s preparing and serving special meals to Mayo patients with special dietary needs.  She devoted her life to being a homemaker and raising her family.  She was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church where she belonged to the Ladies Aid.  She volunteered at the Olmstead County Historical Society, was a Gray lady at the Rochester State Hospital, belonged to a Book Study Group, PTA at Folwell School and several bridge clubs. 
 

Her hobbies included playing bridge, collecting antique furniture and reading, and she was an excellent cook. She enjoyed traveling with her husband in their Winnebago motor home. 
 

She is survived by seven grandchildren, Kathryn Olafson, Sheryl Hemp, Stephen Hemp, Paul (Shelly) Olafson, Eric Olafson, John Hemp and Heidi (David) Hemp Beierle; five great-grandchildren, Samuel, Rachel and Sara Beierle and Isaac and Ian Olafson; son-in-law, Dr. Richard Olafson; and daughter-in-law, Judy Hemp. 
 

She was preceded in death by her husband, Paul, in 1979; her two children, Ann Marie in 2003 and Carl William in 2005; her two sisters, Ruby Syth and Alta Allen; and a brother Carl Eisentraut. 
 

There will be a memorial service at a later date at the Charter House in Rochester, MN.  
 

Ranfranz and Vine Funeral Homes, Rochester, MN, assisted the family with local arrangements.