Helen Budd, 1917-2016

Published 10:05 am Monday, June 6, 2016

Helen L. Budd, 98, of Osage, Iowa, died Saturday, June 4, 2016, at St. John’s Lutheran Community in Albert Lea.

Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Osage. The Revs. Alan Schulz and Stanley Olson will officiate. Burial will be in Osage Cemetery. Visitation will be from 1 to 2 p.m. prior to service at the church.

Helen Budd

Helen Budd

Helen Budd was born Nov. 12, 1917, on a farm near Eagle Grove, Iowa, the daughter of Lester and Severina (Roseland) Olson.  Helen graduated from Lutheran Deaconess School of Nursing in Chicago in 1941 and started her nursing career in the delivery room at Cook County Hospital. In 1943, she married Jim and returned to Iowa, where she balanced raising a family with her nursing career. In Osage, she worked in the emergency room, obstetrics and as night nursing supervisor for almost 30 years. She was a member of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Sons of Norway and a church circle. She enjoyed working on family history, traveling to Norway, keeping in touch with her family and friend, and using her nursing skills to care for anyone who needed assistance.

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Within Helen burned an indomitable work ethic and endless energy, all sustained by her Christian faith. She demonstrated her strong faith through her commitment to helping others.  Family, friends and strangers were beneficiaries of her boundless caring nature. The strength of her love will remain with all she touched throughout her life. And to her family, she will always be lovingly remembered as their “Mamma Mia.”

Helen is survived by her four sons and daughters-in-law, Mark and Gita of Washington, D.C.,; Paul and Val of Albert Lea, Steve and Patti Kral of Mundelein, Illinois, and Erik of Osage. She is also survived by six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, who provided special joys in her final years.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Jim; and three siblings and spouses, Ray and Helen Olson of Thousand Oaks, California, Norris and Joyce Olson of Eagle Grove and Ruth and John Kist of Downers Grove, Illinois.

Condolences accepted at www.champion-bucheitfuneralhome.com.