Helen Marie Maurer

Helen Marie Maurer, 96, died peacefully at home on Vashon Island on February 12, 2016 with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren at her side. Helen was born in the Polish farming community of Marche, Arkansas in 1919. She met Ervin at a USO dance in 1942 and after being married in 1945, they lived in North Little Rock, Arkansas until moving to Gig Harbor, Washington in 1985. Helen was a devoted and beloved wife, mother and grandmother whose first priority was always her family. In addition to her home duties and volunteer church work, Helen regularly took in laundry and did childcare to help support her family. She loved to cook and garden and go dancing with Ervin whenever the opportunity arose, and was never too busy for a kaffeeklatsch with family or friends. In Gig Harbor, Helen was a member of St. Nicholas Catholic Church and was actively involved in the Our Lady of Visitation Guild. She was a Eucharistic Minister along with Ervin for many years at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tacoma. For their dedicated work in this lay ministry to the sick and dying, Helen and Ervin received the Governor’s Volunteer Service Award of Washington State in 1999. They were also recognized by Pope John Paul II when they celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary. Helen is preceded in death by Ervin; her parents, Alexander and Catherine Wilk; sisters, Ann Zanoff and Thecla Borkowski; and brother, Valentine Wilk. She is survived by her children, Don Maurer (Jeanne Manese) and Mark Maurer (Susan Johnson), grandchildren, great grandchildren, and sister Frances Gaylor DeLeuil of Little Rock, Arkansas. The funeral will be held on February 27 at Saint Nicholas Catholic Church in Gig Harbor, WA. Helen will be dearly missed by all of her family and friends. In lieu of flowers, Helen's family requests that gifts be made to one of the following organizations in her memory: St. Vincent de Paul Society of Gig Harbor, Franciscan Hospice of Tacoma, or Providence Hospice of Seattle.

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