Helen Meeder

Helen Eileen Meeder of Antrim County was an active member of her community, supporting organizations and agencies like the Rotary Club, Antrim County Red Cross, Department of Natural Resources, Meadowbrook Care Facility, and Juniper Garden Club in Alden. She also enjoyed participating in her stitching group.

Her daughter, MariAn Huhn, is a resident of St. Ignace.

Mrs. Meeder passed away at Meadowbrook Care Facility in Bellaire Tuesday, November 20, 2007. She had been a resident of Antrim County for 60 years.

She was born to Earle and Nina (nee VanBuskirk) King in Toledo, Ohio, and grew up in Indiana before moving to Potterville.

She was graduated sixth in her class from Lansing Central High School in 1932, after which she started a career in nursing and earned a registered nurse diploma from Sparrow Hospital in Lansing in 1935.

In 1936 she married Ronald T. Meeder, and continued working as a nurse in Lansing while rearing their children, Terry, Tim, and MariAn.

In 1947 they moved the family to Mancelona, where Mr. Meeder established Meeder's Lumber and Mrs. Meeder helped with the business.

Mrs. Meeder is remembered as a "tireless friend" who used "her personal and nursing skills for the betterment of others, often quietly often took flowers to people who needed a smile. She was known for her delicate handiwork, especially embroidery, and all of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren were greeted "with a pile of embroidered diapers and a loving lap," friends recall.

Mrs. Meeder enjoyed nature, gardening, watching the lake, collecting Petoskey stones, and picking flowers.

Friends and family said she was a great cook who made "amazing peanut brittle, fantastic popcorn, and always had a cookie jar full for any visitor or dog that came to call." In the summer she could be found in the garden. She could be identified "by her clear, beautiful whistling," friends said. "It was instantly recognizable."

Mrs. Meeder is survived by her children and their families, Tim and Bonnie Meeder of Bellaire, and MariAn and Ray Huhn of St. Ignace; nine grandchildren and their families, Terry Gene Meeder and children, Whitney and Chelsea, Susan K. Meeder and her children, Travis and Adle, Paul and Manuela Meeder, Jeff and Andrea (nee Meeder) Stratton and their son, Jacob, Shannon Meeder and her child, Francesa, Mitch and Shelly Meeder and their children, Ian and Allison, Wendy (nee Huhn) Waha and children, Jaimen, Christopher, Alex, and Olivia Waha, Kevin Huhn, and Jim and Rachel Huhn and their child, Gabrielle; her sister and her family, Margaret and Ron Fiandt of Wisconsin, and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Ronald, in 1997, by her son, Terry L. Meeder, in 1998, and by a sister, Florence Beam, in 2004.

Services were Monday, November 26, at Mortensen's Funeral Home in Bellaire.

Burial will be at Fairview Cemetery in Custer Township, where she will be laid to rest next to her husband and son.

Donations in memory of Mrs. Meeder can be made to Meadowbrook Care Facility in Bellaire, or to a charity of one's choice.