Helen M. Baltz

Helen M. Baltz, age 92, of Decorah, IA, died Monday, April 11, 2011 at Barthell Order of Eastern Star Home in Decorah. Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 A.M. Saturday, April 16, 2011 at Decorah Lutheran Church with Rev. Bryan Robertson and Rev. Wayne Hagen officiating. Burial will be in Postville Cemetery in Postville, Iowa. Visitation will be from 4:00-7:00 P.M. Friday, April 15 at Fjelstul Funeral Home in Decorah and on Saturday one hour before the service at the church. Helen Marguerite (Posey) Baltz was born September 9, 1918, to Guy H. and Katherine (Kieffer) Posey in Wessington Springs, South Dakota. Helen’s grandparents were among the pioneer settlers of Jerauld County in South Dakota. The day Helen was born, her uncle Nick Kieffer left for Europe as a soldier in the U.S. Army in World War I. Helen had memories of family trips to the South Dakota State Fair, of being in the kitchen with her mother where she learned the cooking skills for which she would become famous, of the player piano in their home, and of her piano teacher, Mrs. Putney. As a little girl Helen would take a harmonica, which was her pretend pitch pipe, and teach music to an imaginary group of students. She always wanted to be a teacher. Following high school graduation in 1936, Helen’s family moved to Sioux City, Iowa. She studied music education at Morningside College with the piano as her major instrument. Helen was a proud member of Mu Phi Epsilon, an international professional music fraternity and honor society. Among her friends in the class of 1940 were the Friedman twins, who would later be known as Anne Landers and Dear Abby. After graduating from Morningside College, Helen taught music in Kirkman, Iowa; Elk Point, South Dakota; and Onawa, Iowa. At Onawa she met Eugene Baltz, and they were married December 31, 1950, at First Lutheran Church in Sioux City. The federal government was building a series of hydroelectric dams in the Missouri River basin at this time, and Helen and Eugene moved to Pickstown, South Dakota, where Eugene was the surveyor in charge of the spillway for the Fort Randall Dam. Pickstown was planned and built by the government as a hometown for the builders of the dam; it had not existed before this. In the new Pickstown hospital Helen’s two sons were born, Frederick in 1952, and Everett in 1953. Helen and Eugene were members of “the greatest generation,” as Tom Brokaw would later call it. Tom Brokaw was a high school student in Pickstown when Helen and her family lived there. Next they moved to Pierre, South Dakota, for construction on the Oahe Dam. After that, they moved to Onawa, Iowa, where flood control and mapping of the lower Missouri became Eugene’s work until he retired. They soon moved to a farm home in the country between Onawa and Whiting, Iowa. Raising her sons, Helen had left teaching for several years, but she went back to teaching at Whiting, where her boys were students. She brought to the school there something the town had not known before, the operetta. For years operettas were produced and performed on the stage by grade school students under her direction. Helen also taught English. Besides the regular teaching, she accompanied many students’ vocal and instrumental ensembles at contests. She was also a church organist for Trinity Lutheran Church in Onawa which merged to become Faith Lutheran Church where she continued to serve as an organist. Her cooking had become legendary, and she was fully involved in the church through helping provide dinners of all kinds. When her sons entered college Helen retired from teaching, but not from involvement in the church. Helen and Eugene moved to Decorah, Iowa, in 1974. Helen became involved in Decorah Lutheran Church where she continued cooking, baking, and serving through the years as long as health permitted. She was also a wedding coordinator for the church. She was a member of Royal Neighbors of America. In their neighborhood on Rural Avenue, Helen and Gene’s house gained a reputation for being a place where neighbors would gather, and where you would always be offered a never-ending supply of coffee, tea, scones, cookies, or bars. Helen and Gene enjoyed their grandchildren. Helen moved to the assisted living facility of the Barthell Eastern Star Nursing Home when Gene died in 2003. Last year she relocated to the nursing home facility. Survivors include: Frederick (Cindia) Baltz of Galena, Illinois; Everett (Patricia) Baltz of North Platte, Nebraska; Grandchildren: Emily (James) Gephart, Warren (Marcy) Baltz, Elliot, Ethan, Eva and Anna Baltz; five Great-Grandchildren: Cora and Calista Gephart, Noah, Levi, and Wyatt Baltz; one brother, Everett (Juanita) Posey of Sioux City, and sister-in-law Dora Posey; nieces, nephews, and cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Eugene in 2003, three brothers and two sisters-in-law: Roscoe and Evelyn Posey, Bernard Posey, and Kenneth and Elaine Posey.