Helen Davis Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Helen Davis, age 77 of Cedar Falls, IA passed away peacefully on 9/24/19 at the Waverly Health Center with the love of her family surrounding her. Funeral services will be 11:00 AM on Monday at the First United Methodist Church in Algona, with Rev. Cynthia Finn officiating. Burial will be in the Burt Township Cemetery. Visitation will be 3:00 – 6:00 PM on Sunday at the First United Methodist Church. Helen was born October 17, 1941 to Jesse and Alleda Harms and grew up on a farm East of Burt, Iowa. She graduated from Burt High School in 1959. She was a baton twirler, cheerleader and was involved in chorus. In her adult life it was common for Helen to break out in a Burt Bears cheer or start singing a song for no reason. It was quite entertaining! On June 28, 1964 she married Leroy Dean Davis also from Burt, IA and they were happily married for 55 years. They lived most of their married life in Burt where they raised their daughter, Roxanne. In 2004 LeRoy and Helen moved to Cedar Falls, IA to be closer to Roxanne and their 2 grandsons, Cody Davis and Dylan Hassman. After retirement, they also had a home in Arizona for 10 years that they thoroughly enjoyed for 3 months out of the year and met many great friends from all over the country. They made some very special memories together there. Helen was a school cook for 20+ years. She started at Burt Community Schools until it closed in 1988 and then went to Sentral School to continue her passion for cooking. She absolutely loved being around the kids. Many of the students would come up to her after they had gone off to college and tell her how much they missed her home-made cooking and that they didn’t realize how good they had it! She made some amazing food and LOVED to entertain friends. Helen always had a lot of friends around her and enjoyed her time with them very much. Before being a school cook she owned “Helen’s Drive Inn” in Burt which sold ice cream and various sandwiches. “Helen’s Double Burger” was a hit with the farmers and the weekend special was a hamburger and malt for $.75! Helen was a devoted Mom and wife who loved her family and valued spending time together. They spent weekends in the summers at their trailer in Okoboji and enjoyed many family vacations over the years fishing in Canada or sightseeing out West. She enjoyed sewing and making many outfits for the family. When she retired from cooking at the school, she did alterations for several years out of her home. Helen loved having a well-kept house and yard and was not afraid to get her hands dirty and get to work. She would do things many women would not attempt to do themselves, but when she decided she wanted something done, there was no stopping her and she wanted it done right – which was “her way” She was just as picky about the clothes she wore and was always dressed in stylish-hip clothes. However sometimes she and some of her friends were seen dressed in ‘old lady’ clothes. They were known to dress up like old ladies and show up to crash a 40th or 50th or 60th birthday party! They were a hoot with their wigs, canes, old dresses and excessive rouge on their cheeks! Helen LOVED to have fun and had a great sense of humor. Helen enjoyed dancing, singing and being silly. She was described by many as sassy and feisty and loved to make people laugh. Many of her nurses at Bartels Retirement Center would say how much they loved Helen’s spunk and sassiness and her ability to make them all smile. She was compassionate towards others and always willing to lend a helping hand to a friend or even a stranger. Helen was never at a loss for words and would talk to anyone that was nearby, stranger or not. There was never a ‘quick’ trip to the store because she would talk to everyone in the store or in line to check out. There were so many great things that we will all miss about Helen and it’s hard to list them all. Her smile that could light up a room, her love she felt for everyone and her spunkiness that was contagious. Her last 8 years had been rough on her with the confusion from dementia getting worse each year and she endured enormous pain in her back. While we are all sad that we will not see Helen again on Earth, we relish in the fact that she can be happy now to be pain free and to have her normal mind back now that she is in Heaven. We have temporarily lost a fabulously funny, sassy, loving and compassionate woman but Heaven has gained an Angel that will be the life of the party and will be looking down on all of us protecting us and making sure we find laughter and love in each day that God gives us. She will be greatly missed by everyone, but has left her mark on us all. Until we meet again……… Helen is survived by her husband, LeRoy Davis (Cedar Falls), daughter Roxanne Hassman (Hudson, IA), 2 grandsons Cody Davis (Hudson, IA) and Dylan Hassman (Cedar Falls, IA). Helen leaves behind many brothers and sisters also: Jim Harms (Carol) of Fort Dodge, IA, Alvina Carlson of Algona, IA, Betty Monaghan (John) of Waverly, IA, Andrew Harms (Sylvia) of Pocahontas, IA, Harris (Betty) Harms of Burt, IA, Ruth Davis (Gary) of Waverly, IA, Shelly Harms of Burt, IA, Mary (Norman) Carlson of Clarion, IA, Norma Ruhnke (Bob) of Algona, IA as well as brother-in-law and sister-in-law Darrell & Marlene Davis. She also leaves behind many nieces and nephews and great-nieces and nephews. She is proceeded in death by her parents, Jesse and Alleda Harms, brother David Harms, mother and father in-law Fred & Beulah Davis and brother-in-law Phil Carlson. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to one of the following organizations that are dear to our hearts. The Alzheimer’s Association http://act.alz.org/goto/Helen_Davis or the Cedar Valley Hospice www.Cvhospice.org

Helen Davis

October 17, 1941 - September 24, 2019