Helene (Timm) Van Buskirk, age 104, of Huron died on Monday, July 27, 2015 at SunQuest Healthcare Center in Huron. Her funeral service will be 10:00 a.m., Saturday, August 1, 2015, at American Lutheran Church in Huron with burial at Riverside Cemetery. Visitation with the family present will be from 5-7 p.m. on Friday, July 31, at Welter Funeral Home with a prayer service to begin at 6:30 p.m.; or one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday. Growing up for Helene was a chore in-and-of itself. Helene's father passed away when she was young so she and her older siblings had the task of helping her mother with the 5 boys and 6 girls in the family. Born on April 11, 1911 to Chris and Anna (Peterson) Beck on the family farm just a few miles south of Cavour, Helene attended a one room school in Richland Township until the 8th grade (that school can be seen today on the Laura Ingalls Wilder Homestead grounds near DeSmet, SD). She went to only 6 months of high school when her mother needed help at home with the younger kids. Helene later married Robbie (Robert) Timm in 1928 and moved south of Huron to a farm. At that time, she went to work at Swift and Company where she candled eggs and wrapped butter. Prior to the start of World War II, sons Floyd, Kenny and Bob were born. At the outbreak of the war, Helene and Robbie packed up all of the kids and moved to Vancouver, Washington so they could work in the Kaiser Shipyards. They both worked different shifts so one could be at home with the kids. In Vancouver, Helene was very versatile in her work. She was a welder and an expert crane operator along with many other odd jobs. Helene was often relied upon to train others on various pieces of equipment and tasks. When the war was over, the family rode the train home to Huron and bought a house. In the early 1950's Robbie passed away and Helene was later remarried to George Doering. He unfortunately passed away a few years later. At this time, Helene then went to work for J.C. Penney Company. She worked there for more than 26 years. She then married Ralph Van Buskirk during the early 1970's. They bought and operated the Pheasant Liquor Store underneath the world's largest pheasant. Both Helene and Ralph retired during the mid 1980's, selling the business. Ralph later passed. Helene then began to concentrate in earnest on three of her most passionate activities: gardening, baking cookies and crocheting afghans. Over the years, her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren have been the beneficiaries of fresh vegetables, canned tomatoes and scrumptious chocolate chip cookies (usually right out of the oven made by the "Cookie Queen"). In addition, each of the grandchildren and great grandchildren has been the proud recipient of a special afghan made with love by Grandma Helene. Helene will be remembered for her zest for life, her quick wit and sense of humor as well as her award winning dance moves, fishing expertise, killer card playing and shifty dice rolling. She is survived by her 10 grandchildren: Gary Timm, Vickie (Lloyd) Meyer, Cindy (Tom) Borkowski, Kathy (Howie) Bragg, Rob (Melanie) Timm, Shelly (Bill) VanWyhe, Patrick (Jennifer) Timm, Shawn Kranz, Shireen (Dale) Feldt, and Ryan Timm. Helene is also survived by 22 great grandchildren; 26 great-great grandchildren; daughter-in-law, Betty Timm; many nieces and nephews; and special friend Maggie Bales. She was preceded in death by her parents; her five brothers, Andy, Art, Chris, Hans, and Fred; and five sisters, Anna, Ethelyn, Evelyn, Ida and Marie; husbands, Robbie, George and Ralph; along with sons, Floyd, Kenny and Bob; a daughter-in-law Mildred Timm; and a granddaughter-in-law, Joyce Timm. The family prefers memorials to your favorite charity.