LAUBER, Helen Lucille

LAUBER, FORD, BOWMAN, TODD, JULIUS, WESTOVER, CLARK, HOSKYN

Posted By: Pat Ludeke (email)
Date: 6/9/2013 at 01:08:57

Helen Lucille Ford Lauber, 512 North Third Street, Clear Lake, died Monday, Nov.
21, 2011 at Oakwood Care Center, just two days before her 92nd birthday, in a
defiant effort to die young. A celebration of her life was held Friday at the
Clear Lake United Methodist Church, with the Rev. Diana Hoover officiating.
Burial will be at the Clear Lake Cemetery at a later date. Memorials preferred
to the Clear Lake United Methodist Church.

Helen was born on Nov. 23, 1919 in Coon Rapids, Iowa, daughter of Carl Vincent
Ford and Bonnie Bernice Bowman Ford. The family moved to Storm Lake, Iowa in
1921, where Helen and her sisters, Julia Maxine Ford Julius, and Louise Bonita
Ford Todd attended school and did a lot of other, more entertaining things.
Helen graduated from Storm Lake High School in 1937, attended Buena Vista
College in Storm Lake for two years, and received her baccalaureate degree from
Iowa State Teachers College (UNI) in Cedar Falls in 1942, with a physical
education major and minors in speech and history. She taught school in Lamont,
Ida Grove, and Des Moines, Iowa until 1944.

On June 10, 1943 Helen married her longtime Sunday school classmate and high
school sweetheart, Avery John Lauber. Avery was a Navy pilot, serving in the
South Pacific. The couple lived in Providence, R.I. and Portsmouth, N.H. during
his years of service. After the War they lived in Storm Lake, Des Moines and
Iowa Falls, Iowa. They moved to 800 North 12th Street, Clear Lake in 1953. The
family cat died during the move. In January 1963 they moved to Helen’s “dream
house” at 512 North 3rd Street, where she lived until a week before her death.

Helen and Avery were the parents of five children, Bonnie Ellen Lauber-Westover
and her husband, Allan, of Brooklyn Park, Minn., Susan Lynne Lauber Clark and
her husband, Jim, of St. Paul, Minn., John Ford Lauber and Elizabeth Lincoln of
Minneapolis, Minn., Elizabeth Anne Lauber Hoskyn and her husband, Jim, of
Richfield, Minn. and her Brazilian exchange student daughter, Agnes Soares da
Silva of Washington, D.C.

Helen has eight grandchildren, Jason Clark and his wife, Jena, Jennifer Clark,
Aaron Clark and his wife, Jill, Jonas Westover, Nathaniel Westover and his wife,
Michela, Sarah Lauber, Christopher Hoskyn, and Hannah Lauber.She also has ten
great-grandchildren, Johanna Clark, Benjamin Murray, Abbe Murray, Eva Clark,
Lauren Clark, Chloe Clark, Sebastian Clark, Cassandra Clark, Isaiah Clark, and
Scarlett Clark.

Helen and Avery loved camping and traveling to Alaska and Nova Scotia in their
mini-Winnie. They spent many great weeks in Hawaii and on the north shore of
Lake Superior. Helen was a Methodist from babyhood, especially active in the
Clear Lake United Methodist Church. She loved her Ruth Circle, Bible studies,
and church events and church friends. She was a reader, bridge player, dog lover,
devoted Iowa Hawkeye fan, and loved a good ride around Clear Lake. She loved
classical music and played violin and piano. She was a proud wife, mom,
grandmother and great-grandmother, and made the world’s best potato salad. Most
of all she loved spending time on her back porch with family and friends.

Helen was preceded in death by her husband Avery John Lauber; grandson, James
Avery Hoskyn; great-grandson, Clark William Murray; her parents; and her
sisters.