03/23/2012
Helen Maxine Hedrick Steward was born on November 1, 1915, the daughter of Forest
and Gretta (Noftsger) Hedrick.
She grew up and attended country school in Thief
River Falls, Minnesota and then in Marion County, Iowa.
Helen graduated from Knoxville
High School in 1933. She went to cosmetology school in Des Moines and graduated
in May, 1937. She worked with her friend, Janet Spoelman Keunig at the Pella Beauty
Shop for five years.
In the summer of 1937 she met her husband, Wayne Kenneth Steward
of Cedar Vale, Kansas. He came to Monroe to stay with relatives and look for work.
Helen’s father hired him to help on his farm near Otley.
The couple originally planned
to marry in January, 1942 but Wayne was in the Army when Pearl Harbor was attacked.
He was able to get a few days off and they were married on December 14, 1941.
Wayne
was a career Army Sergeant Major, so this meant the family needed to move often.
They lived in Kansas, Washington, Panama, Missouri, Japan, Germany, California,
Texas, Arkansas and Iowa. Wayne retired in 1967 and they settled in Attica for many
years.
After her husband’s death, Helen moved in with her daughter in Johnston,
Iowa. She spent the last few years in the Urbandale Healthcare Center until her
passing.
Helen was a member of the Women’s Society in Attica and was an active member in
the Attica United Methodist Church, where she played the organ and helped with funeral
lunches. She enjoyed crafts and puzzles and loved music. Her greatest joy was being
a mother and caretaker to her family.
Helen passed away Friday, March 23, 2012 at the Urbandale Healthcare Center. She
was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Wayne; son, David Steward; and cousins,
Max Noftsger and Adam Patterson.
Those left to cherish her memory include her daughter,
Kathy (Steve) Bower; grandchildren, Stephanie and Ryan Bower; and cousins, Virginia Patterson and Mary Noftsger.
A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, March 27 at 10:30 a.m. at the Williams
Funeral Home in Knoxville with Rev. Vickie Steffes officiating. Burial will follow
in Graceland Cemetery in Knoxville. A visitation will begin one hour prior to the
service.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Attica United
Methodist Church or to Iowa Hospice.