Helen Finn

Funeral services for Helen Finn, formerly of Jefferson, will be at 10:30 a.m. July 31 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Jefferson, with Father John Gerald officiating.

Visitation with the family will be from 5 to 7 p.m. July 30 at the Slininger-Schroeder Funeral Home.

Private family interment will take place at St. Joseph’s Cemetery.

Helen Frances Miller Finn passed away July 24 at the Norterre Long-Term Care Center in Liberty, Mo., at the age of 98.

Helen was born March 12, 1922, in Hamburg, Iowa, to Frank and Helen Gottsche Miller. 

She graduated valedictorian from the Ursuline Academy in York, Neb., and worked as a legal secretary in York, where she met her husband, Richard “Mick” Finn, at a USO dance. They married Aug. 1, 1945, in York while Mick was home from the war in Europe. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Jefferson. In her 90s, she described this decade of working, dancing and meeting her husband as her favorite decade.

Helen was an active parishioner of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Jefferson and was a proud member of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas.

Her family and the Jefferson community were very important to her. Helen was an avid reader and a strong supporter of education. All four of her children graduated from the University of Iowa. She also learned to use her iPad which her grandson, Patrick Finn, gave her for Christmas in her late 80s.

Her community support included serving as a den mother for the Cub Scouts, delivering Meals on Wheels and volunteering to teach adults to read through the Jefferson Public Library literacy program. She was also a founding member of the Greene County Historical Society.

She worked for the Jefferson Benevolent Society for 35 years and served on its board of directors before retiring in 1989.

After retiring, Helen’s travels included a Caribbean cruise, a bus tour of Canada, and road trips to New Mexico and the Hill Country of Texas.

Helen was preceded in death by her husband, Richard; her son, Judge Timothy Finn, of Ames; her granddaughter, Katherine Finn Milleman; her parents, Frank and Helen Miller; her brother, Frank Miller; and her sister, Sr. Margaret Miller, O.S.U.

She is survived by Mike Finn and Mary Finn, both of Dallas; Chris (Pamela) Finn, of Liberty, Mo.; daughter-in-law Marilyn Finn, of Ames.

Other survivors include her grandchildren, Declan and Connor Finn, of Liberty, Mo.; Patrick (Amy) Finn, of Glen Ellyn, Ill.; and her great-grandchildren, Emma, Henry and Maeve Finn, all of Glen Ellyn.

In lieu of flowers, you may direct memorials to the Katherine Finn Milleman Memorial Award Fund, via The University of Iowa Center for Advancement, One West Park Road, Iowa City, IA 52242.