Helen Ufen
Helen Ufen, age 103, of Philip, South Dakota, died on Saturday, May 29, 2021 at the Philip Nursing Home.
Helen Floy Ades Ufen was born at home, delivered by her father, on April 9, 1918, in Boone, Iowa, one of seven children born to Ethan and Rosina (Behrens) Ades. The family moved to an acreage when she turned nine. She learned how to swim in junior high, which she really enjoyed. She was happy to trade in her dresses for a pair of her brother’s overalls anytime.
Helen graduated from Boone High School in 1936 during the depression. One of her jobs included staying with a family and doing the cooking, cleaning, and stoking the furnace for $4 a week. She had been thinking about going to a church college, which at the time, was one of the few she could attend and then pay back tuition after she got a teaching job. And that is just what she did! In 1939, after one year of college, she received her teacher’s certificate and started her teaching career at Golden Shield School south of Miller.
It was during her second year of teaching that she met Julius Ufen. They got married the day after school was out on May 17, 1941, at Shakespeare Garden in Wessington Springs. They raised three daughters on the farm, where they grew alfalfa, prairie hay, corn, and oats to feed their cattle, sheep, and chickens. After they sold the farm in 1966 and moved into town, they did extensive travelling. In 1971, they took a big trip to Alaska, driving the Alaskan Highway. In 1972, they started going to Arizona for the winter months. Helen has been a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan and so they attended the Cubs spring training games in Mesa.
Her husband Julius preceded her in death on October 6, 1984, after nearly 43 years of marriage. Helen later moved into an apartment in Miller, and her sister lived upstairs. In 2010 she moved into the Philip Nursing Home where she has since resided.
Helen enjoyed reading, putting jig-saw puzzles together, and watching baseball games whenever she could. She was also a woman of strong faith throughout her life.
Survivors include three daughters Rose Niederauer and her husband George of Durango, Colorado, Julie Kemnitz and her husband Chip of Philip, and Joyce Wheelhouse and her husband Richard of Sacramento, California; seven grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; one great-great-granddaughter; and a host of other relatives and friends.
In addition to her husband Julius, Helen was preceded in death by two brothers Lloyd and Donald Ades; and four sisters Pearl McCambridge, Della Holcomb, Geraldine Pierson, and Lois Droppers.
A visitation will be held one hour prior to the funeral service.
Funeral services will be held 2:00 p.m. CST Saturday, June 5, at New Beginnings Worship Center in Miller.
Interment will follow at GAR Cemetery in Miller.
Arrangements are with Rush Funeral Home of Philip.
