Helen Heberlein

Madison: Helen Ida Heberlein (better known as "Smiley") passed away peacefully on Monday, January 29, 2018. The daughter of Oscar and Arlie (Hubbard) Isenberg, she was born on August 10, 1928 in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Helen's mother died when she was 16 months old. She was raised by her father and stepmother, Clara (Kruse) Isenberg. She attended MacMurray College in Jacksonville, IL for a year and then graduated from UW-Madison in 1951 with a degree in Early Childhood Development.

On December 28, 1949, Helen married Gordon Heberlein, who passed away on June 25, 1982. Helen and Gordy moved 12 times during their first 12 years of marriage, all the while adding children to the mix. Their first home was a house trailer in student housing on Midvale Blvd., with no running water. As if raising six children wasn't enough, Helen did in-home child care and worked as a pre-school teacher for Church Day Nurseries for 19 years. She was a sales clerk at Prange's; a bookkeeper for their family businesses, Madison Construction Company, Inc. and Hardwoods Unlimited; and was a customer service clerk at Rural Insurance Companies. She retired from Rural in 1997.

Helen is survived by her six children and their children: Susan (John) McCarthy of Milton and their son Thomas (Erin) of Madison; Nancy of Madison; James (Kaye) of Middleton and their children Jamie (Jordan) Steffen of Sacramento, CA, Kevin of Portland, OR, and Douglas Kim of San Jose, CA; Paul (Jean) of Milton and their children Christina Henderson of Janesville and Nicolas (Hailey Addie) Miller of Waukesha; Kurt (Reba) of Madison; and Karl (Diane) of Stoughton; her sister Jeanne Hendricks of Niagara; brother-in-law William Heberlein of Plymouth; great-grandchildren Cheyanne Henderson, Cierra Ward, Wesley Addie, and a beloved great-niece, Morgan Merline.

She is further survived by nieces and nephews Diane (John) Briggle of Lyons, CO; Dorene West of Sylmar, CA; Randolph (Kay) of Middleton; AnnDee (Michael) Alesch of McFarland; Terri (Jon) Hartwig of DeForest; Kathy (Nathan) Steen of Rugby, ND; Gregory (Deb) Heberlein of Plymouth; Connie (Kevan) McClintock of Plymouth; Cindy (David) Vander Galien of Van Dyne; Geoffrey (Loretta) Heberlein of Rockford, IL; Gary (Jamie) Heberlein of Wentzville, MO; Gregory (Sandy) Hendricks of Niagara; Kathy Hendricks of Madison; David (Virginia) Isenberg of Watertown; and Michael Isenberg of Tomahawk. She also has 23 great nieces and nephews.

In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by her brother James Isenberg, in-laws Kenneth Hendricks, Nona Isenberg, Douglas and Helene Heberlein, Robert and Louise Heberlein, Doris and Gordon (Eric) Erickson, and Patricia Heberlein.

The family would like to thank the staff of Agrace Hospice (Dan, RN; Grace; and the vigil volunteers), and the staff at The Villa at Middleton Village (Jill, RN; Diamond, CNA; Jim, CNA; Pamela; and Leah). Thank you also to Pastor Mark Berenthal for his devotion to Helen, and to John E. Ewalt, MD, for 35 years of TLC. Memorials may be made to Agrace Hospice (agrace.org), the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ( www.cff.org ) or the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation ( www.jdrf.org ).

A celebration of Helen's life will be held on February 10, 2018 from 1 to 4PM at the Cress Center, 6021 University Avenue, Madison. Please share a memory.




Cress Center
6021 University Ave.
Madison, WI 53705
(608) 238-8406