SOUTH BEND - Helen I. VanDeViere, 101, passed away at 5:56 p.m. Saturday, June 14, 2008, in Inwood Hills Estates where she had been a resident for the last two years. She was born in South Bend on January 28, 1907, to August and Prudence (VanAutreve) VanDeViere. She lived most of her life on a farm near New Carlisle, IN. Family was everything to Helen and she spent her life taking care of her parents. She loved to collect acorns from the Council Oak in Highland Cemetery, growing them and giving them away to friends and relatives. She outlived many of her budding trees. She was preceded in death by her parents; three brothers, Henry, Charles and Albert; a sister-in-law, Louise Fiwek; and by a sister, Mary VanDeViere. She is survived by her sister, Clara VanDeViere; three nephews, Charles (Sandra) VanDeViere of South Bend, Robert (Virginia) VanDeViere of Tempe, AZ, and Ronald (Janet) VanDeViere of Walkerton, IN; and two nieces, Mary (Tom) Daniels and Bonnie Southers of Greenfield, IN. She is also survived by 11 great-nieces and nephews, 15 great-great-nieces and nephews, and many cousins. Helen was a 30-year member of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church and Holy Cross Church for many years. She worked as a payroll clerk at Oliver's Plow Works and retired from Lee's factory after 10 years. She belonged to the Indiana Farm Bureau for 59 years. Visitation will be in the Kaniewski Funeral Home today, June 17, from 4 to 8 p.m. Services will be Wednesday, June 18, at 11 a.m. in Holy Cross Church, with burial to follow at Highland Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Holy Cross Renaissance Campaign Fund or to Hospice of St. Joseph County.
Published in the South Bend Tribune on 6/17/2008.