Gause, Helen Daisy - 1910-2010

ALES, BARNHOUSE, FOGLESONG, GAUSE, MAYS, MC CONEGHEY, MICHELS, TERPSTRA, VAN HAAFTEN, VANDE KIEFT

Posted By: JCGS Volunteer
Date: 7/2/2010 at 18:20:34

A memorial service for Helen D. Gause will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 26, 2010, at the Pence-Reese Funeral Home in Newton. Friends may call at the funeral home one hour prior to the services, with the family present. Memorials designated in Helen’s name may be made to the Lynnville Historical Society or Hospice of Jasper County.
Helen D. Gause, 100, the daughter of W.A. and Lottie Ann (Foglesong) McConeghey, was born April 26, 1910, in Monroe, Iowa. She graduated from Monroe High School and received a teaching certificate from William Penn College.
Helen was united in marriage in 1930 to Lester H. Gause II. Lester was killed in a farming accident in 1938. In 1940, Helen was united in marriage to Lory W. Gause. She devoted her life to her husband, family and community. She was a longtime resident of Lynnville, where she was active in many of her children’s school events. Helen was a charter member of the Lynnville Women’s Club and held many offices in the Eastern Star. She moved to Newton in 1994 and became a member of the First United Methodist Church in Newton and the Jasper County Historical Society.
Helen died on Friday morning, May 14, 2010, at Park Centre in Newton. She was preceded in death by her parents; her first husband, Lester; her husband, Lory, in 1992; her son, Charles, in 1996; four brothers, Keith, Carl, Paul and Dale McConeghey; and three sisters, Cecile Terpstra, Mabel Van Haaften and Ruth Vande Kieft.
Those left to honor Helen’s memory include her three daughters, Nancy (Bill) Barnhouse of Vero Beach, Fla., Jeanne (Robert) Mays of Pittsboro, N.C., and Joan (Gary) Ales of Davenport, Iowa; three sons, Lester (Kay) Gause of Newton, Iowa, Bryce (Sheila) Gause of Lynnville, Iowa, and Russell (Susan) Gause of Houston, Texas; 16 grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; a sister, Eva Michels of Ventura, Calif.; and two sisters-in-law, Reva and Doris McConeghey. Subsequent to Helen’s death, her daughter, Jeanne, passed away on June 15.
Online condolences may be left for the family at www.pencefh.com.
Aadditional information from Pence-Reese Funeral Home website:
She was the 6th child in a family of nine children for William and Lottie. In order of birth they were Keith, Cecile, Mabel, Carl, Ruth, Helen, Paul, Eva and Dale. Helen, Eva and Dale are the only members of the family still living. Her father, William, was 99 when he passed away and many of Helen's brothers and sisters lived well into their 90's but she is the only family member to attain the age of 100.
Helen attended country school and then went to high school in Monroe, graduating in 1928. She talked about the snow and cold weather when attending school and how she hated being cold. She and Ruth took the buggy back and forth in high school using blankets and heated bricks for their feet to stay warm. Helen always said that Ruth never got as cold as she did.
Helen has always enjoyed singing and she started in her youth singing many solos at her family's church. After high school she attended William Penn College to earn her teaching certificate and taught in a country school. While teaching, she sometimes stayed with her sister Mabel.
Helen met and married Lester H. Gause Jr. in 1930 at the age of 20. She and Lester Jr. had 4 children, Nancy, Jeanne, Charles and Lester III. Tragically Lester was killed in a farming accident in Oct of 1938 when they both were only 28 years of age. Helen was provided much help by her family as well as Lester's. It was not easy during this depression era to be a widow left alone with 4 young children, the oldest being 7. These were very difficult years for Helen.
In October of 1940 Helen married Lory W. Gause, a younger brother of Lester's. Lory adopted Nancy, Jeanne, Charles and Lester. They added to their family with the births of Bryce, Russell and Joan. This brought the family to a total of 7 children. Lory and Helen had both wanted a large family and worked at making their family a close knit group as both of their own families had been. Even though their children are spread across the U.S. today they still remain close and get together on a regular basis to enjoy each other's company. Helen has always remained close to her own brothers and sisters as well.
Helen, from when she was little, always loved to be outside which is why she liked working in her garden and flowers so much.
Helen fed her family from her garden. During the warm months they had fresh vegetables from the garden including rhubarb and strawberries, and fruit from their trees. In the fall she would can tons of tomatoes, beans, corn etc. as well as make jams and jellys for use during the winter. She also raised onions and potatoes to feed an army (or with 4 growing boys must have felt like an army). All of these were stored in their cave for use during the winter. In addition, Helen loved flowers and she had a green thumb for those as well as her garden. However, with baseball, football, green light races, anti-anti over the house, her flowers sometimes received pretty rough treatment. All of her children and grandchildren at one time or another were asked "who broke off my geranium?". Helen, from when she was little, always loved to be outside which is why she liked working in her garden and flowers so much.
In addition to all the day to day activities in raising a family, Helen and Lory liked to travel. Their first trip was made to visit Lory's parents in Windsor, Colorado in July of 1947. Nancy, the oldest would have been 16 and Joan, the youngest would have been not quite 2.
Not only did Helen raise her children but she was also very active in raising her grandchildren. She kept most of them for periods of time to help out their parents whether they stayed in Lynnville or she stayed with them at their homes. She loved her children and really enjoyed all her grandchildren. She participated in all their activities if possible. I am sure that each grandchild can say that their Grandma Helen attended at least one of their activities, whether sports, dance recitals, music events, plays etc. and was always there to listen and encourage. Helen also was an excellent cook and she was an expert at putting together a meal for unexpected company out of her refrigerator or freezer. She baked pies, brownies, homemade bread/rolls and always had cookies in her freezer. She knew which cookies were the favorites for each of her grandchildren and always had plenty in the freezer ready for them when they came to visit.
In the late 1950s, Helen joined the workforce working outside the home. She became the receptionist in the doctor's office in Lynnville. She taught herself to type so she could schedule appointments, fill out insurance forms, and send out statements. She always liked to be busy. Also in the mid 60's she took private driving lessons in Newton with the intention of getting her driver's license so she didn't have to depend upon others to drive her places. However, as sometimes happens, it seems that there was a misunderstanding between her and Lory on her taking the driving test so she never did actually take the final driving test and get her license.
Helen and Lory did lots of traveling after Lory retired in 1981 visiting family and sightseeing across the U.S. They never took any trips overseas as they wanted to visit all the continental U.S. states first. They made it to all except Hawaii and Alaska. For several years they were Florida snowbirds and enjoyed spending winters where it was warm and they didn't have to shovel snow. Helen enjoyed the flowers while there and they both began to show a little leg wearing shorts and tennis shoes.
Lory passed away in 1992 and Helen continued to reside in Lynnville for a couple of years planting her garden which had more flowers then vegetables but eventually decided to move to Park Centre in Newton where she made many new friends and continued to be active.
Helen has done a lot in her 100 years. She has been a tremendous influence on all of her family and others that have known her. From her youth she has carried on the values and hard working principles of her parents. Family has always been so important to her. She always has looked on the positive side of things, expected a great deal of herself as well as her children and always tried to do the right thing. She has had some wonderful times in her 100 years and also some really sad/hard times but they have made her the person she is today. I am sure when she was a young girl she never dreamed that she would be celebrating her 100th birthday and be the first person in her family to have that distinction. Interment: Woodland Cemetery, Lynnville, IA
Source: Newton Daily News; Monday, June 21, 2010