Helen Ruth Jacobson

FITCHBURG - Helen Ruth Jacobson, age 97, peacefully passed away on Thursday, May 23, 2024. She was born at home in Plainfield, Wis., the daughter of Reinhold and Mary Everett on Dec. 28, 1926.

Helen’s life spanned two millennia. She and her 11 siblings grew up on a sandy soil farm in rural Plainfield with no electricity, plumbing, or paved roads. They hauled water inside for laundry, cooking and bathing, cooked and heated the home with a wood stove, and shared prayers and meals around an over-sized oak table. They walked three miles to a one-room schoolhouse. Helen loved being a farmer's daughter. She left school before finishing high school to help with the farm duties when her dad was ill and unable. She preferred working outside and liked to hunt squirrels and jackrabbits with her dad and brothers.

At age 18, she moved to Madison to join several of her sisters working at a radio component factory supporting the country’s efforts in World War II. After the war, she waitressed at Brown's Restaurant, Stevens’ Restaurant, and Rennebohm's on the Square. She fondly remembered serving various Madison-area luminaries, recalling what their respective daily order was, even many decades later, like it was yesterday. One of those daily customers, Wayne Jacobson (Denver sandwich and coffee), a handsome young Norwegian man that worked at his father’s meat market, became her husband on March 25, 1950. Mom eventually bore three children: Donna, Tim, and Ann. In the early 1970’s, Helen and Wayne committed to fostering and raising twin girls, Janelle and Janeane, who were embraced into our family without hesitation.

They lived in Sun Prairie and excelled as parents, providing steady love, discipline, and emotional shelter. The life lessons of how to conduct yourself honorably were sealed on our hearts. They supported us in our endeavors - school, sports, music, and later also our romances, parenting, careers, and travels. School friends and neighbor kids were always welcomed to our home, drawn to Mom’s generous spirit, affinity for kids, and her baking and baseball pitching skills! Her brownies and Amish cookies were favorites, as was her potato salad.

Helen worked from home selling Tupperware and Shaklee, made thousands of pounds of potato salad for the market, and babysat to help make ends meet. She earned her GED and learned to type and do data entry. She then landed a job at American Family Insurance, working for 17 years before retiring. In retirement, she and Wayne worked at Jacobson Bros. Meats kitchen making salads, and for her friends at Sprint Print processing bulk mailings.

Pincurls and pink rollers - Mom could’ve been a beautician. She regularly set ladies’ hair at the nursing home in Sun Prairie. During the recent pandemic, she enthusiastically volunteered to package thousands of donated Tide pod sample packs for a local food pantry - doing her part to ease others' burdens. In each setting, she made cherished friendships that lasted for decades.

Helen lived her final two years at Homme Home assisted living in Wittenberg, with strong support from Ann and her kids. The return to the pines of rural central Wisconsin soothed her.

Helen and Wayne enjoyed nearly 67 years of marriage until Wayne’s passing in 2017. When people told her how strong she was, Helen would respond, “It takes a strong woman to be married to a Norwegian for 67 years!”  That she was…

Helen is survived by daughters, Donna (Scott) Lewein, Ann Mesich, Janelle Jacobson, and Janeane (Jerry) Brockman; son, Timothy (Peggy) Jacobson; grandchildren, Alex (Laura) Lewein, Christian Jacobson, Andrea Jacobson (fiancé Doug Michalak), Jovie Mesich, John Mesich III and Shelby Erickson; great-grandchildren, Maya and Sonja Lewein, River and Ryker Erickson; and many beloved nieces and nephews.

She was predeceased by her husband, Thorleif Wayne Jacobson; her parents; her siblings; son-in-law, John Mesich II; and by all her Everett and Jacobson in-laws.

A funeral service will be held at IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY CATHOLIC CHURCH, 5101 Schofield St., Monona, at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 1, 2024. Burial will be held at Roselawn Memorial Park. Visitation will be held at GUNDERSON EAST FUNERAL AND CREMATION CARE, 5203 Monona Drive, Madison, from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. on Friday, May 31, 2024, and also at the church from 9:30 a.m. until the time of the service on Saturday.

Helen always said: "If I win the lottery, I'm giving it all to the Church and St. Jude's." She often tried, but never won, so please direct any memorial donations to Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church or St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

She reassured us, "We are so lucky to have such a wonderful family. When I'm gone, be happy for me."  Amen, Mom!

Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.

Gunderson East
Funeral & Cremation Care
5203 Monona Drive

(608) 221-5420