LANARK, Ill. —
March 31, 1915-Jan. 13, 2013
Helen Lynette (Luse) Lenz 97, of Hermosa Beach, California passed away at Sunrise Assisted Living home on January 13th, 2013. Funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, January 19th, at Lemke Funeral Homes, South Chapel, west side of Clinton Lawn Cemetery. A visitation will be held 1 hour prior to the funeral service from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. Burial will take place at Clinton Lawn Cemetery.
Helen Lynette Luse was born in Camanche, IA on March 31, 1915. She was the only child of Dr. Ralph Frank and Anna Pearl Minear-Luse. Her father was a medical officer in WW1, but didn’t go overseas before the armistice. After the war, when Helen was two, the family moved to Low Moor, Iowa, where her father opened his medical office. She went to school in Low Moor through 10th grade. She attended Clinton High School through graduation in 1932. She got rides to Clinton and back with local people who worked in Clinton. Helen then attended Wartburg College for two years. She took off a year to take a typing class. During this year, her father moved his medical practice to Clinton and the family moved into a duplex in Clinton. Helen then attended Cornell College for one semester studying to be a health care nurse. She changed to Iowa State Teacher’s College in Cedar Falls to become a teacher. Helen received a teaching degree in 1937. After graduating, she started teaching primary grades in Low Moor in the same room where she started school. Her salary was $75 a month.
Helen met Dale when they were 18. Her parents were good friends of Dale’s aunt and uncle, Edith and Jesse Hill. Dale came to Low Moor to visit his aunt and uncle and met Helen at Jesse’s 65th birthday party. A few months later, Dale came to work for his uncle Jesse. Dale and Helen started dating while Helen was still in college. While Helen was teaching, she first stayed with a family in Low Moor and then stayed with Dale’s cousin Lloyd Hill and his wife until they were married. Helen taught for three years.
Dale worked for his uncle until his brother Clifton helped him rent a farm at Rudd, Iowa. After he had the farm started and crops planted, he came back to Low Moor to marry Helen on May 26, 1940 which was her parent’s 25th wedding anniversary. They lived on the Rudd farm for 2 ½ years. Clara Ann, their only child, was born on June 9, 1941.
In 1942, Dale and Helen bought a farm near Rolfe, Iowa, where they lived until they moved to California in 1998, to live in a mobile home park in Gardena. After he retired in 1976, he rented the farm to a neighbor so that Dale and Helen could travel in the United States, Africa, Spain and Israel.
Helen was very active in the United Methodist Church and was also in the Farm Bureau women while they lived on the farm. Helen helped with farm work and kept the garden on the farm. After moving to California, Helen was active in the Hope UMC as long as she was able.
Dale and Helen moved to Sunrise Assisted Living in 2010, after Dale broke his second hip in a little over a year, making living in the mobile home impossible. Dale died June 27, 2012. Dale and Helen were married for 72 years. Helen passed away at Sunrise after a short illness on January 13, 2013. She was 97 years old. She is survived by her daughter Ann, two granddaughters and a great-grandson. She will be buried at Clinton Lawn Cemetery in Clinton, Iowa, beside Dale and her parents.
Death date: Jan. 13, 2013
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January 17, 2013
Helen Lynette (Luse) Lenz
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