Kesselring, Helen M. (Sheets) 1915-2004

KESSELRING, SHEETS, TEETER, PETERS, HUPP

Posted By: Debbie Nash (email)
Date: 6/14/2004 at 15:03:58

Helen M. Kesselring
June 08, 2004

Helen M. Kesselring, 89, of Ottumwa died Monday, June 7, 2004, at Vista Woods Care Center in Ottumwa.

The funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Bladensburg Christian Church, with the Rev. Oliver Larkin and David Fenton officiating. Interment will be in Batavia Cemetery in Batavia.

Open visitation will begin at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Kremer Funeral Chapel in Batavia, with the family present from 7-8 p.m. Tuesday.

Memorials may directed to Bladensburg Christian Church, American Cancer Society or Faith United Methodist Church in Libertyville in memory of her grandmother who raised her.

Mrs. Kesselring was born May 18, 1915, near Libertyville, the daughter of William Curtiss and Mary Frances Maude Teeter Sheets. She married G. Paul Kesselring March 25, 1938, near Batavia. He died Sept. 12, 2000.

She grew up and was educated in Libertyville, graduating from Libertyville High School in 1932. She and her husband farmed in the Bladensburg area for many years before moving to Ottumwa in 1977. She was a teacher in the rural schools for three years, and later founded and was the director for the Mary Poppins Preschool at the YWCA in Ottumwa for 15 years.

Mrs. Kesselring was a member of Bladensburg Christian Church since 1946, where she served as a Sunday school teacher, deaconess, church camp counselor and Christian Women Fellowship member, both on the local and state level.

She also was a member of Chapter G, P.E.O. of Ottumwa, Elizabeth Ross Daughters of the American Revolution, Republican Women of Wapello County, Steadfast King's Daughter of Ottumwa, YWCA of Ottumwa for 37 years and a very active volunteer for the American Cancer Society for 30 years.

Survivors include one daughter, Marian "Becky" Peters and husband Ivi of Batavia; one son, Glen Kesselring and wife Pam of Ottumwa; four grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents; four brothers, Donald, Harry, Earl and Carl Sheets; and one sister, Inez Sheets Hupp.

Courtesy of the Fairfield Daily Ledger Inc. 2004