Obit: Helfert, Beatrice Elizabeth (1923 - 2022)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Helfert, Cypher, Ericson, Lucas, Mertes, Haas, Beckman, Erickson, Haberman, Seidel, Bernard, Whittlinger, Goessl, Sobczak, Kugel, Schmidt, Bartnik, Redfern

----Source: Maurina-Schilling Funeral Home (Abbotsford, Clark Co., WI) 12/09/2022

Helfert, Beatrice Elizabeth (2 February 1923 – 7 December 2022)

Beatrice E. Helfert, age 99, of Colby, died on Wednesday, December 7, 2022, at The Waterford Assisted Living.

Beatrice Elizabeth Cypher was born on February 2, 1923, at home on the family farm near Stetsonville, to Andrew and Hermine Cypher. Beatrice attended elementary school in Taylor County. She worked as a waitress at a restaurant in Medford, then at an ammunition factory in Chicago for three years during World War II.

She married Nicholas Helfert on April 30, 1946, at Sacred Heart Church in Stetsonville. Together they farmed near Dorchester until his death in 1981. She then moved to Colby where she was a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church. For 30 years she volunteered at the Colonial Nursing Home in Colby. There she enjoyed helping with games and activities, decorating for the holidays, and one summer helped trim a float for several residents to ride in Colby Cheese Days parade. In 2011 she moved to an apartment in Colby where she lived independently for six years; making her final move to the nearby Waterford Assisted Living facility in 2017.

Beatrice enjoyed traveling on bus tours to the Tulip Festival in Holland, Michigan, the St. Louis Gateway Arch and many other destinations. She especially enjoyed her winter get-aways with family to Disney World and to the warm February sunshine of Naples, Florida. Beatrice loved playing cards and board games with her grandchildren and always remembered all their birthdays. Beatrice saw God’s hand in most things and encouraged prayer and rosaries in the face of adversity. Always devoted to her children and grandchildren, she will be greatly missed.

Beatrice is survived by her eight children: Connie (Robert) Ericson of Hutchinson, MN; Michael (Alice) of Monticello, MN; Dolores (James) Lucas of Bloomington, MN; Jean (Randy) Mertes of Brainerd, MN; Mary (Leonard) Haas of Colby; Dorothy (Denny) Beckman of Colby; James (Cathryn) of St. Paul; and Gerald (Debbie) of Spencer; 26 grandchildren, and 61 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband Nicholas; two grandsons, Mike and Mitch Erickson; her parents, Andrew Cypher and Hermine Jakel Cypher Haberman; her stepfather, Henry Haberman; and all her siblings, Clarence (Clara) Cypher, Cathrine (Walter) Seidel, Marie (Frank) Bernard, Marcella (Frank) Whittlinger, Florence (Clarence) Goessl, Dorothy (Casimir) Sobczak. She was also preceded in death by all of her Helfert in-laws Joe, Paul, Anthony, Carl, Marie (Rudy) Kugel, Cecelia (Theodore) Schmidt and Agnes (Frank) Bartnik.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Saturday, December 17, 2022, at St. Mary Help of Christians Catholic Parish in Colby, Rev. D. Joseph Redfern officiating, with burial Monday, December 19, at Dorchester Memorial Cemetery. Visitation will be held at the church on Saturday, December 17, beginning at 9:00 A.M. until time of service at 11:00 A.M.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to St. Mary's Catholic School, Colby, WI.