Helen Uhl

Helen Lee Barger Uhl March 30 1922 - March 29 2013 Helen Lee was born on March 30th 1922 to George and Freda Barger of St. Joseph Missouri. She was a child of the Great Depression an era of sacrifices and frugality which shaped her attitudes and values for a lifetime. She attended the Musser elementary school and was a Class of 1940 Central High School graduate. The Barger family in St. Joseph were members of the Wyatt Park Christian Church After high school Helen Lee was interested in becoming a stenographer - at the time women that were not raising families were mostly limited to nursing teaching or secretarial careers - and the $20 tuition to attend secretarial school was financed with luck. She met her father one evening with plans for dinner and then a movie a double feature. It was common in-between movie reels for the theater manager to enter onto the stage and conduct a sweepstakes drawing and calling out numbers that were printed on the movie ticket. Helen Lee's number was drawn that night for an unusually large grand prize of $25! When her father drove Helen Lee home that night George made a deal which she readily agreed to; she could keep $5 to spend on herself but the remaining would go to secretarial school tuition. She graduated from secretarial training and took a job with the Standard Oil Company of Illinois in St. Joseph an employment that she continued until 1949 when she was wed to Adolph Uhl of Fargo North Dakota an accountant back from the War with roots in St. Joseph. They married that September then soon after relocated to Eau Claire Wisconsin. Helen Lee and Adolph longed for warmer winters though and moved back to St. Joseph where all three of their sons were born David Joe (Greg) and Larry. After brief stints in Kansas City and Dennison Iowa the Uhl family relocated in 1961 to Omaha Nebraska moving to a home in the fast-growing suburbs of west Omaha an address they would occupy for more than 40 years. Participation in the church was important to Helen Lee and the Uhls would also become founding members of the nearby Faith Christian Church. In 1963 Helen Lee became an executive secretary with the Skinner Macaroni Company (The Hershey Company) a position she enjoyed and would remain in the rest of her career. She was a classic secretary for the era; a fast typist excellent at shorthand and never felt belittled to get her bosses a cup of coffee - it was just part of doing the job well. She retired from Skinner Macaroni in 1987. Retirement was spent traveling visiting her children and grandchildren; David in Texas and then Colorado Greg in Texas and Nebraska and Larry in Missouri Washington Ohio and Massachusetts. She enjoyed organized tour/trips with her aunts Carolyn (Giermann) and Gertrude (Giermann) She was passionate about quilt making and knitting during those later years producing and donating hundreds of baby quilts to local hospitals and presenting her children grandchildren and nieces with a multitude of quality quilts and afghans that will be prized for generations. In 2005 after a broken hip she relocated to Akron Ohio to be near her son Larry and his wife Lori and granddaughter Chelsea where she remained until her death. Like many of her Giermann and Barger ancestors she enjoyed a long life living to just one day short of her 91st birthday. Helen Lee is preceded in death by her husband Adolph father George mother Freda brother George Jr. and brother Richard. She is survived by her three sons David (Lynne) Uhl of Denver Colorado Joe (Sandy Nye) Uhl of Omaha and Larry (Lori) Uhl of Akron Ohio. She is also survived by four grandchildren Joshua (Michelle Fuller) Uhl Ambra Uhl Justin (Shavona Boyd) Uhl and Chelsea Uhl and two great-granddaughters Gabrielle Smith and Madison Uhl. Her sister-in-law Helen (George Jr.) Barger also survives her as do nieces Freya Barger Beth Ann Barger and Marja (Barry Carlsen). Per Helen's request cremation has taken place. A memorial service will be held at 12 Noon on April 27th in St. Joseph Missouri at the Meierhoffer Funeral Home. Entombment will be in the adjacent Memorial Park Cemetery Mausoleum.