Helen G. W. (Rusley) CHASE

CHASE, KVASLERUD, RUSLEY, PAULSON, BINGHAM, DELAHOYDE

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 2/14/2010 at 14:32:24

Mason City Globe Gazette, Iowa

MASON CITY - Helen G. W. Chase, 91, of Mason City died Sunday (May 15, 2005) at Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa. Funeral services will be held 2 p.m. Friday at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, 2502 S. Jefferson Ave., with the Rev. Joel Dahlen officiating. Interment will be in Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. today at Major Erickson Funeral Home, 111 N. Pennsylvania Ave. A memorial fund has been established in her name.

Helen G. W. (Rusley) Chase was born on a farm near Joice, Iowa, to Tom and Tilda (Kvaslerud) Rusley on Feb. 22, 1914. She graduated from Lake Mills High School in 1932 and Lutheran Deaconess School of Nursing in Chicago, Ill., in 1937. She worked as a registered nurse in the Chicago area for two years before returning to Mason City where she continued her career at the Park Hospital. Nurse colleague Nettie Delahoyde talked her into a blind date with Nettie's brother, Jess Chase. The matchmaking was so successful that Helen and Jess were married on Oct. 12, 1941, and they celebrated their 63rd anniversary last fall.
Throughout her life, Helen was deeply involved in her family's activities and service to Our Savior's Lutheran Church. Near the end of her professional career, she taught nursing education classes for three years at North Iowa Community College. After retirement, she continued her involvement with the community, including help with refugee settlement, free immunization clinics, and health screening in the schools. She served for many years on the Altar Guild, chaired women's organizations in the church, and continued to meet with her cherished Marion Circle friends long after she was able to sew and create the handcrafts she loved.

Helen is survived by her husband, Jesse; daughters Lynne (Wayne) Paulson of Chandler, Ariz., and Gayle (Robert) Bingham, of Apex, N.C.; and three grandchildren: Emily and Kari Paulson and Christopher Bingham. Her surviving siblings include Kermit Rusley, Leland, Stanley Rusley, Lake Mills; and many nieces and nephews.