Submitted by: Dan Rich

Helen Coe Lemioux

Nov. 7, 1942 - Jan. 1, 2008

South Bend Tribune 1/4/2008
SOUTH BEND - Helen Coe Lemioux, 66,  of Perrysburg, OH, formerly of South Bend and Mishawaka, passed away on Tuesday in her home. Helen was a prominent family law attorney practicing in Wood and Lucas counties for the past 35 years. She was one of the first female attorneys and she became a leader amongst her peers. She was known to be firm and to have a complete knowledge of and understanding of the subject at hand. She could not be intimated and was undaunted in her approach, and yet she was always fair and reasonable in all cases. Everyone knew her to always be gracious no matter the circumstances and she never lost her composure. She showed respect for the clients and her fellow attorneys and was a real joy to deal with at all times. She had great expertise and even taught seminars to her peers. She was a leader in her field.

She was born to Earl and Margaret (nee DeGeyter) Schalliol in Mishawaka, Indiana on November 7, 1942. Her parents have preceded her in death. After graduating from Purdue University with a bachelors degree in Home Economics, she married Larry Coe and they moved to Toledo. She began teaching at Bowling Green State University and worked on her Masters Degree in Clothing and Textiles. After receiving that masters degree, she moved to the University of Toledo from which she obtained her Law degree. She had maintained an office in downtown Maumee and practiced Law in Wood and Lucas counties for over 35 years.

In 1980, she married Dr. Bernard J. Lemieux, who is retired from X-ray Associates Inc. and is currently serving as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Shriners Hospitals for Children. Helen was a loving and caring person who helped many people as she traveled through life; she will be remembered as a "giver" and not a "taker". Her main emphasis was to make everyone feel good about themselves and she truly treated people just as she would have wanted to be. Never did she look for recognition; she was just there. She was the inspiration that made others great.

She is survived by brother, Anthony Schalliol (Shirley); sister, Susan Leininger (Tom); and brother Michael Schalliol (Joyce); as well as aunts, uncles and many nieces, nephews, and cousins who all live in the South Bend (Mishawaka) area. She will be greatly missed by her loving husband and their son, Bernard Lemieux from Scottsdale, Arizona. Those who knew and understood her will appreciate just how much she will be missed.

Visitation will be from 5 to 9 p.m. on Thursday and from 2 to 9 p.m. on Friday at the Witzler-Shank Funeral Home, 222 E.S. Boundary St., Perrysburg, OH where a Rosary Service will be at 7 p.m. Friday evening. Prayers will be recited in the funeral home at 9:15 a.m. on Saturday, January 5, 2008, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Rose Catholic Church in Perrysburg at 10 a.m.

Burial will be at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Resthaven Cemetery in Wakarusa, Indiana. The family knows that Helen as the First Lady of the Shrine of North America would have appreciated in lieu of flowers, donations to be made to Shriners Hospitals for Children, First Ladies Program. Helen believed that Research is the Key to tomorrow's medicine and that we need to train the young people interested in research so her project for this year was to start a permanent endowment that will fund research fellowships for interested research graduate and medical students at Shriners Hospitals for Children. The address for the above is Donor Relations Dept.