Graveside Service Friday For Theresa L. Helem, 74
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- Created on Thursday, 17 November 2022 13:36
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Theresa Louise Helem
Graveside services for Theresa Louise Helem, a longtime Sitka resident, will be held 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 18, at Sitka Memorial Park.
Pastor Dug Jensen, of Calvary Chapel, will officiate.
The family will meet friends at the Elks Lodge immediately following the service. Those attending are welcome to take a dish to share.
Theresa transitioned on Nov. 9 at Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center, at the age of 74.
She was born Oct. 8, 1948, to Gordon and Myrtle Helem. The family came to Sitka in 1959, and Theresa graduated from Sitka High in 1966.
Throughout Theresa’s life she showed her ambition and bravery when many opportunities came along, from being a taxi driver in Seattle, to being one of the first crew members on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline based out of Delta Junction, to taking courses ranging from business classes to more technical ones such as mechanical engineering.
She was constantly learning and striving for knowledge. Her adventures took her to volunteering for several years on the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Her most notable achievement was her constant involvement in the family business from a Contractor Supply Store to being the general manager of Sitka True Value Hardware, all while raising three children on her own.
Theresa lived by “If there was an adventure, I was up for it, let’s go.”
Members of this community will remember her not only for being “The Boss Lady” from the office of Sitka True Value but for her passion and advocacy. She made sure to be present and make her voice heard with her heart’s focus for her fellow community members’ well-being as well as the direction of this town.
Theresa was preceded in death by her parents.
She will continue to live on through her son Timothy Bernard, daughters Amanda (Jon) Martin, and Ashley Grearson; five grandchildren, McKayla Sheakley, Emily Bernard, Hannah and Brianna Martin and Grace Bellamarie Grearson; two brothers, Ken (Carole) Helem and Jerry (Mary) Helem; and nieces and nephews.
She will be remembered dearly by her Sitka True Value employees “family.”
In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to Special Olympics of Alaska.
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20 YEARS AGO
January 2005
Photo caption: Ryan Morse concentrates on his word in the Keet Gooshi Heen Elementary School spelling bee this morning, as Muriel Sadleir-Hart listens, at right. Third-, fourth- and fifth-graders competed. The winner was fifth-grader Zephyr Feryok.
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