Helen “Welfl” Wynia was born May 2, 1928, to George and Helen (Fegenbush) Warrington in Springfield, S.D. She passed away Aug.24, 2022, at St. Joseph’s Hillside Villa in West Point.
Helen attended school in Springfield, where she was crowned Senior Class Homecoming Queen in 1947. After graduation, she went to college and received a Teaching Certificate and taught country school for two years.
Helen married Kenneth Welfl on April 9, 1949, and to this union were born a son, Reggy and a daughter, Holly.
Helen and Kenny farmed and raised cattle on bottom ground in Bon Homme County until the construction of Gavins Point Dam forced them to move to “higher ground”. They moved to Omaha in 1960. Helen held various jobs through the years. She retired from Kelloggs in 1995, after 24 years of packing those “2 scoops” of raisins.
Helen and Kenny moved to Oakland in 1995. Kenny passed away in the Oakland Nursing Home in 1996.
On Sept. 7, 2001, Helen married her high school boyfriend, Jack Wynia and moved to a farm near Avon, S.D. Jack passed away in 2011 and Helen returned to her home in Oakland. In 2020, Helen moved to St. Joseph’s Hillside Villa, where she lived until her passing.
Helen was an avid sports fan. Baseball and football were her favorites. As a child they would gather around the radio to listen to the Brooklyn Dodgers. She loved farm life and helping work cattle. She enjoyed a little casino gambling and betting the “Ponies” at Aksarben in Omaha. She loved her family deeply and spending time with them was always special to her.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husbands, Kenneth and Jack; sisters, Jana, Jelsma, Charlotte Welfl, Dorothy Marker; brothers, Allan and Mervin.
She is survived by her son, Reggy (Alice) Welfl of Kennard; daughter, Holly (Jeff) Hurrell of Craig; stepdaughter, Diana (Patrick) Pohl of Lansing, Mich., Judy Wynia of Vermillion, S.D., Dorothy (Rich) Dwyer of Harrisburg, S.D.; stepson, Jay (Kari) Wynia of Dante, S.D.; brother, Don (Vicki) Warrington of Omaha; sister-in-law, Marilyn Warrington of Springfield; 17 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; 10 great-great-grandchildren; many nieces and nephews.
Memorial Visitation, Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022, 1 to 3 p.m. at Pelan Funeral Services Oakland.
Interment at a later date, Springfield, S.D.
Memorials directed to the family to be designated.
Arrangements by Pelan Funeral Services Oakland. www.pelanfuneralservices.com
