Helen Walczak

    Helen Joyce Walczak (nee VanderPloeg), age 91, found eternal serene Friday, March 25, 2022, with her loving dog Echo and family by her side.  
    She was born into earthly sainthood to Allie and Elsie (Wester) VanderPloeg in Milwaukee, Wis., on May 5, 1930, and spent her life in Milwaukee County until moving to Harbor Campus in Port Washington in 2016 to be closer to her granddaughter.
    She maintained lifelong correspondances with her family and friends, never forgetting a special occasion with the perfect card she spent hours selecting and inscribing with a heartfelt message.
    Despite more humble circumstances, she could make any guest feel most welcome with petite sandwiches, a myriad of cookies, tea or coffee and the most luxurious feeling linens due to her pristine bed making skills.  
    She read the Milwaukee Journal every morning and had a sharp wit. She loved watching “Dancing with the Stars” weekly with Suzanne and Chica.
    Helen was a charter member of the M.I. Hummel Club and shared a love of kewpies with her best bosom friend from grade school, Rosalie Hoeft.  
    She loved to travel, most especially and frequently to New York City with her best friend Dolly Cardenas-Rhyner, enjoying the musicals on Broadway and performances by Harry Belafonte and Frank Sinatra.  
    No weeknight was complete without “The Wheel.” Sundays were for “60 Minutes.” Cemeteries were an adventure. She never complained or gossiped, always greeted the world with a smile and remained most kind, generous and thoughtful through her last days.
    Helen loved to work. Her favorite job was at Boston Store with her best friend Vera Ribansky (late, of Florida). She was proud to work at Allen Bradley until she was showing with her first child; Nordberg, where she worked with her dear friends Marta and Hal until her primary retirement; and Northern Computers, her “fun” job, with close friends Teri and Deborah until her final retirement.  
    Though Helen was an excellent worker, her true calling was to be a grandparent.  She gave up her retirement to raise her granddaughter Linnea in 1997, and her devotion to this vocation never wavered.  
    Helen was a devoted mother to Michael (Mary) Walczak and Gail; proud grandmother to Benjamin (Jenny) Walczak, Angela (Paul) Robinson and Linnea Laura Esberg (Jonathan Patti); and great-grandmother to Penelope, Oliver and Lucas.  
    Helen had very close relationships with her brother Glenn (Ann) and cousins, and always said that the greatest gifts from her marriage were her steadfast and welcoming in-laws.
    She is further survived by Joan (Roger) Biesel, Eden Biesel, Joli (Jeff) Bruns and her beloved goddaughter Erika Martin of Kentucky.  
    Most sincere thanks go out to Helen’s caregivers at Harbor Campus Communities over the past seven years. Special thanks to Jackie VanPrice, who showed Half-Pint extraordinary love, care and compassion, Marcy Penfield, who provided Helen with tremendous comfort in hospice, and Mike from Heartland Hospice, who, exemplary in his job, provided Helen with rest and comfort in her final dozen hours.
    Private burial services will be held at Forest Hill Cemetery, and a gathering will be held for her Harbor friends.
    Grandma’s favorite charity was Shriners Hospitals for Children.