Helen (Eckerman) Hunsaker, 96, passed away January 6, 2025. She was a kind person with a beautiful soul, loved by those who knew her.
A visitation will be 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm Sunday, January 12, 2025, at Christy-Smith Funeral Homes, Morningside Chapel, 1801 Morningside Ave, with a Rosary followed by a Prayer Service at 4:00 pm. Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:30 am Monday, January 13, 2025, at Mater Dei Parish-Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. Burial will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Mapleton, IA.
Helen was born April 12, 1928, in the coldest room of the house in her parents’ farmhouse in rural Union County near Jefferson, SD. Her parents, William Eckerman and Ella (Yerter) Eckerman, were two people she admired and never stopped loving. Helen kept them alive through her stories of their lives, struggles, joys, and extended families. Tales of her life experiences and discussion of family lore are cherished by her family.
Not news to those whom she knew, Helen loved to chat. She made friends wherever she went and found nearly everyone she met interesting. In the 1930s, her parents lost their farm during the Depression and the family moved to a duplex on 14th St in Sioux City, where her mother sublet five rooms to supplement her father’s income at the stockyards. She and her sister slept in the dining room while her parents slept in the pantry. A tiny concrete backyard replaced the farm as her playground.
A small inheritance upon her grandfather’s death let her parents’ farm once more, this time in Waterbury, NE. Helen was valedictorian of the senior class she also taught for the last part of her senior year due to a wartime teacher shortage. She was a trusted farmhand to her father given she could plant straight rows with a horse and plow. She loved living on the farm. Helen lived with her grandparents in Stevens, SD, catching the trolley in Riverside to attend Briar Cliff, where she not only walked blocks to the campus from her trolley stop but up all the stairs, in heels, every day. She cherished her time in Stevens spent with her grandma and her cousins with whom she had to share a bed. Upon graduation, she taught in Holly Springs and then Blencoe, during which time her parents purchased a farm east of Mapleton. She contracted and survived polio when she was teaching. Her parents’ new farm was where she met a WWII vet who lived across the road. He came to help fix her dad’s windmill. She married Richard Hunsaker at St. Mary’s Church in Mapleton in 1950.
Richard & Helen moved from Mapleton to Sioux City after their first child was born and Richard began working for Swifts. After he was laid off, Helen worked at the ASCS office and for 2 years was the breadwinner. Richard returned to Swifts and eventually became an electrician for Casler Electric. Helen returned home to care for their two, then three children. She was a devoted wife and amazing mom. She was kind to everyone she met and a favorite among neighborhood kids, who called her Aunt Helen. She worked for the Red Cross during the Vietnam War, volunteered at Immaculate Conception School in the library, served funeral dinners, taught CCD, volunteered for several committees, and was a 33-year sacristan at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. Once her last child left for college, Helen started cleaning offices with her dear friend and neighbor Pat Smith. She was close to many long-time neighbors and enjoyed their coffees and visits over the decades.
Helen taught her children the value of reading, education, manners, chocolate, a good bakery, and the value of every person. She was a role model of love.
Helen was a devout Catholic, and proud of both her French and German heritage. Her rosary was her constant companion and she prayed them daily for her family. She pestered saints to intercede for her causes. Helen remained sharp until the end, always looking ahead to visits from her family, hearing about the local and national news, discussing politics and current events, and worrying that the birds had enough food and water. She had a happy, full life, and was open to as many years as God would have given her. She was tough but tender, resilient but reserved, magnificent but modest.
Helen was the star around which these lives revolved: daughter Theresa Thompson (Ed) of Duluth, MN; daughter Jean Logan (Mike) of Sioux City; and, son Rick Hunsaker of Carroll, IA. She adored her granddaughters: Allie Koch (Andrew) and Katie Logan. She was thrilled to be a great-grandmother to Thea Koch.
Loved ones with whom she will have joy reuniting include her husband, her parents, her siblings, friends, and many family members with whom she shared a close bond on both her and Richard’s side of the family.
Helen was a model mid-century mom. She thought of others first while putting herself last, was an excellent cook, made delicious chocolate chip cookies, and was her kids’ greatest cheerleader. She touched the lives of countless people. She will be deeply, deeply missed.
In lieu of flowers, memorials in her memory may be made to the Mater Dei School Library, Bishop Heelan Catholic Schools, the Carmelite Monastery, or the Community Action Agency of Siouxland for children’s coats.