Helen Frances Brazy

Helen Brazy was born in 1912 to William and Esther Coffin, very lively and outgoing parents. In 1929 the family purchased a gentleman’s farm in Germantown, Wisconsin. There Helen's father practiced daredevil horseback riding (he was a friend of Tom Mix and performed in Mix’s Trick Riding Rodeo shows) when not working as Circulation Manager at the Milwaukee Journal, while her mother raised and baked bountiful fresh food through the Depression. Helen and David Brazy married in 1935, and had a gracious stone house built in Menomonee Falls. Helen and her sister, Esther, hosted many holiday parties for the growing clan of nieces and nephews (and, later, their spouses) of the Coffin and Brazy families. WWII opened up new chapters – David worked at a munitions plant of Falk Industries in Milwaukee, and Helen followed her family tradition of service by enlisting in the U.S. Navy WAVES. She was stationed in Charleston, SC, in a unit that provided support for minesweepers that guarded the U. S. southern coast. After the war, Helen attended UW Madison on the GI Bill, graduating Magna Cum Laude with a BA in History in 1949. After the war, she and David converted the Brazy Meat Market in Menomonee Falls into a sporting goods store. Helen shared David’s love for the outdoors - they were among the first people in Wisconsin to have Yellow Labrador retrievers. She expressed her love of the Navy by devoting her time to the Menomonee Falls American Legion Post, where she served as commander from 1953-54, the Legion Auxiliary, and WAVES National. With her nephew Michael’s help, Helen planted a huge garden, producing tomatoes each summer before everyone else and with enough raspberry plants to feed the whole neighborhood. Walks with Carolyn to school introduced the Ed and Jeanine Semon family into the fold. David’s flagging health due to a motorcycle accident in his youth prompted Helen and David to sell the store in 1972. Later Helen took over leadership of the Country Folk Dancers in Milwaukee, with an extensive repertoire and a full schedule of performances In the winter of 1999, Helen moved to Madison, close to the homes of daughter, Carolyn (and husband Raul), and nephew, Peter (and wife Jane) Brazy. Even the healthiest of bodies finally slows down. Everyone merged talents and gave Helen three memorable birthday parties in her final years, when she turned 98, 99, and 100. Family and friends gathered to honor and fete a woman who shaped and enriched their lives. Helen Brazy was a woman of strength, character, and graciousness, who exercised a lively intellect. A woman ahead of her time, she was an adventurer who lived her life to its fullest, did the things she wanted to do, traveled to the places she wanted to go, and exemplified that it's never too late to start something new. She, and her family, shared love with many, many people during the century of her life. From the words of one of her favorite songs 'I'll be loving you, Always, with a love that's true, Always . . . not for just an hour, not for just a day, not for just a year, but Always.” Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com. Gunderson Fitchburg Funeral & Cremation Care 2950 Chapel Valley Road (608) 442-5002