Helene Willis

(From Parker Mortuary)

Helene E. Willis, 90, of Joplin, MO, died October 28, 2014, at NHC Healthcare, her home since June of 2011.

She was born August 12, 1924, in Soldier, IA, the daughter of Efraim and Clara Jensen.

Helene graduated from Soldier High School in Soldier, IA, and then attended the Commercial Extension Business College in Omaha, NE. Following graduation in 1943, Helene began working in public relations and payroll at the Glenn L. Martin Bomber Plant in Omaha.

Helene met Warren Willis, her future husband and lifelong partner, through her brother, Harv Jensen. Both Harv and Warren served in World War II as Marine Corps pilots in the Pacific theater. Following Warren’s discharge from service, he and Helene were married in Omaha on January 5, 1946.

They then moved to Manhattan, KS, where Warren resumed his studies in civil engineering. Upon Warren’s graduation from Kansas State University in 1947, Warren’s engineering jobs took them to Atlantic, IA; Iola, KS; Belmond, IA; and finally to Marshalltown, IA, which became home base for the family. Warren and Don Thompson formed a civil engineering firm known as Thompson, Willis & Company in Marshalltown, and Helene was an officer in the company.

Helene was a member of P.E.O. in Marshalltown, she served on the local Mental Health Board and several other volunteer organizations, and she was a foster mother to a number of children. She taught Bible school at the Congregational Church; and she and Warren enjoyed playing bridge with friends, listening to music, and family camping trips each summer. Helene enjoyed sewing and crocheting and, like her mother, found peace in playing the family organ.

Helene and Warren decided to leave the snow behind and retired to Heber Springs, AR, in 1976. They moved to Pharr and Edinburgh, TX, in 1982 where they found more sunshine and became accomplished ballroom dancers. They also traveled to visit family, and in 2001 they moved closer to family in Joplin, MO.

Helene valued her family above all else. She and Warren were good role models for their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Both stressed the importance of education, work ethic, and good family values.

Survivors include daughters Janet Willis Weidner of Colorado Springs and Angela Willis Patton of Berryville, AR, and sons-in-law Claus Weidner and Greg Patton. Helene’s four sons are Keith Willis of Clovis, CA; Dale Willis of Ogden, UT; Dean Willis of Joplin, MO, and daughter-in-law Beth; and Wayne Willis of Loveland, CO, and daughter-in-law JoAnn. Helene was grandmother to 14 and great grandmother to 22 children. She has a brother and sister-in-law living in CA – Harv and Joyce Jensen, and a sister-in-law, Shirley West, in IA.

Helene was preceded in death by Warren in 2013; her parents; three brothers, Arnold, Leland, and Marion Jensen; and a sister Irma Sankey.

Plans are underway for a family memorial service in Kirwin, KS. She will be laid to rest alongside Warren in the Kirwin Cemetery.

Memories of Helene may be shared with her family via their daughter, Janet Willis Weidner of Colorado Springs, CO.