- Helen Mary (Joyce) Ebben, age 82 of Kaukauna, passed away on Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at home with her family by her side, following a 12 year battle with Alzheimer's. She was born June 10, 1929 in Green Bay, WI to the late William J. and Gertrude (Golden) Joyce. On August 4, 1951, she was united in marriage to Willard P. (Bill) Ebben. They celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on August 4, 2011. Helen graduated from St. Joseph Academy, Green Bay, in 1947, Outagamie Rural Normal School in Kaukauna, in 1950, and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in 1971, where she earned a degree in Elementary Education. Helen taught for 31 years. She began her career as an educator in 1950 at the State Graded School in Greenleaf, then taught at Apple Creek School in the Town of Kaukauna. She taught Kindergarten at Harrison School in Sherwood, for 14 years and Nicolet School in Kaukauna, for an additional 13 years. She loved teaching young Kindergarteners.
Helen was full blooded Irish, a heritage she was proud to proclaim. She and Bill made two trips to Ireland, where they found the ancestral home of her great-grandfather, where he lived prior to leaving for America in 1847. St. Patrick's Day was a time of celebration for Helen. She truly had the gift of Irish eloquence and she enjoyed talking and visiting with people. Helen and Bill took many trips visiting family members and sight-seeing across the U. S. and Canada. They had many happy times at the family cottage which they built on Lake Hilbert in 1968.
Helen is survived by her husband, Bill, her children Patti (Bill) DeBruin and Patti's son, Dan, Jim Ebben, Jack Ebben, Maureen (Jeff) Klatt and their children Stevie and Lizzie, and Katie (Park) Drescher and their children John and William, a sister, Kathleen Peters and a brother, Emmett Joyce. She is further survived by sisters-in-law Sarah Joyce, Sr, Janet Ebben, Genevieve Ebben, Dorothy Wavrunek, Mary Ebben, and a brother-in-law, Hank (Rosie) Ebben, and many nieces, nephews and friends.
She was preceded in death by a son, Joseph Ebben, her parents, sisters Lillian (Jud) Baxter, Irene (Les) Neuman, Ethel (Jim) Faulds, and Patricia Joyce as well as a brother, William Joyce, Jr., and members of Bill's family, Till (Pete) Van Den Bosch, Frances (Erv) Deprez, Vince Ebben, Clara (Wally) Roepcke, Marge (Ray) Heindl, Richard Ebben and Sylvester Wavrunek.
Family and friends will be received on Sunday, February 19, 2012 from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at BOETTCHER FAMILY FUNERAL HOME, 2401 Fieldcrest Dr., Kaukauna. Family and friends will also be received at ST. KATHARINE DREXEL PARISH at ST. ALOYSIUS CATHOLIC CHURCH, 2401 Main Ave, Kaukauna on Monday, February 20, 2012 from 10:00 a.m. until the time of the Mass of Christian Burial at 11:30 a.m. with Fr. Jerry Pastors officiating. Burial in St. Paul Catholic Cemetery, Wrightstown.
The family wishes to thank the staff of Thedacare Hospice at Home who cared for Helen in her final days.
A quote by Nicholas Chamfort was one of Helen's favorites: "The most lost day of all is the day in which we do not laugh
Published in Appleton Post-Crescent from February 17 to February 18, 2012
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1929 - 2012 (82 years)
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Obituary
