Fink, Helen Ann: 1FAMILYTREE Genealogy

1944 - 2018 (73 years)

Generation: 1

Fink, Helen Ann was born 7 Dec 1944, Appleton, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA; died 14 Jan 2018, Beloit, Rock, Wisconsin, USA.

Other Events:

Address: Helen Ann Fink; Address:
1869 Arrowhead Dr.
Beloit, WI. 53511
Residence: Between 1944 and 1967, Menasha, Winnebago, Wisconsin, USA
Education - High School: 1963, Menasha, Winnebago, Wisconsin, USA
Education - College/University: May 1967
Residence: Between 1971 and 1993, Beloit, Rock, Wisconsin, USA
Occupation: Between 1982 and 1991; Job Developer/Counselor-Rock County OIC
Election: Between 1986 and 1991, Beloit, Rock, Wisconsin, USA
Occupation: Between 1991 and 1993; Ombudswoman, Congressman Les Aspin
Election: 1992, Beloit, Rock, Wisconsin, USA
Occupation: Between 1993 and 2001; Department of Defense/Installations, Spec. Asst.
Residence: Between 1994 and 2000, Alexandria, Alexandria (City), Virginia, USA
News Mention: 3 Jan 2013; beloit daily news
1FamilyTree Registered User: 4 Aug 2013
Obituary: 15 Jan 2018

Notes:

Namesake:
Mom's Doll

Residence:
319 Winnebago Ave., Menasha, WI

Education - High School:
St. Mary's High School Class of 1963

Education - College/University:
Marquette University, AB

Residence:
1872 Arrowhead Dr., Beloit, WI

Occupation:
Job Developer/Counselor-Rock County OIC

Election:
City Council Member, Beloit, WI

Occupation:
Ombudswoman, Congressman Les Aspin

Election:
City Council President, Beloit, WI

Occupation:
Department of Defense/Installations, Spec. Asst.

Residence:
5814 Iron Willow Ct, Alexandria, VA

News Mention:
Helen Forbeck is beginning her first day of retirement today after a long career in politics, including most recently serving in the Beloit office of U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, the newly elected Wisconsin senator.
For nine years, Forbeck was charged with managing Baldwin's Beloit Congressional office. Baldwin was elected to the U.S. Senate in the November election.
"She was just a treasure to work for. In my humble opinion, she stood for the right things, and was consistent yet flexible. I was very proud to work for her. She was a great representative, and she'll be a great senator," Forbeck said. "It's been a pleasure I and appreciate the opportunity to serve."
As Forbeck focuses on the next stage of her life, she said she will feel freer to speak out publicly on more issues. Although she doesn't plan to run for any local offices, she said she will remain active in helping campaigns and staying true to her convictions.
"I'll be around," she said.
Forbeck, 68, said she had considered moving on with Baldwin, but wasn't interested in having to work out of Madison or Milwaukee and the necessary driving associated with it. She decided now would be a good time to catch up with her grandchildren, pursue her love of genealogical research and just have fun.
Forbeck, born Helen Fink, grew up in Menasha and attended college at Marquette, majoring in history and minoring in English and Education. She was a teacher for two years in the Milwaukee area before moving to Beloit in 1970. She was a stay-at-home mom for 12 years while doing substitute teaching and working on Les Aspin's 1982 campaign for Congress.
While raising her family Forbeck was active in the community for years as a Girl Scout Leader, Cub Scout Den Mother, soccer coach, girl's softball coach, and a member of both the Beloit Planning and Beloit Parks and Recreation commissions prior to her service on City Council.
She worked at Rock County Opportunities Industrialization Center for almost eight years as a job developer. From 1991 to 1993 she served as Rep. Les Aspin's ombudswoman, where she managed his district office, represented the congressman at local functions and helped local communities and businesses secure and retain federal resources.
Her experience extended to the Beloit City Council where she served three terms and was elected the first female City Council president. Following her service in his congressional office, Forbeck joined Aspin at the Department of Defense where she served as a special assistant in the Office of the Secretary of Defense in Washington.
after being elected to office herself, Forbeck said she discovered she preferred to work for someone else. She said she admires and respects politicians' commitment to public service, noting that traveling back and forth can be very wearing. Forbeck was particularly impressed with Baldwin's "grace under fire."
"She just cares abut people and is a class act," she said.
Forbeck said she introduced herself to Baldwin when she was first elected in the late 1990s during a reception. She was drawn to Baldwin's unwavering commitment to civil rights, the environment and health care. Once Forbeck worked for Baldwin, she said she found it to be a family-friendly and supportive office.
"We, in turn, would give her (Baldwin) everything and work hard for her. It was like family," Forbeck said.
Although Forbeck enjoyed her years managing Baldwin's Beloit Congressional Office, she is ready to start a new chapter with her family. With two sons, two daughters, and twelve grandchildren, Forbeck will be busy watching sports or leading ice fishing and sledding expeditions, although she's in the "watching and driving" phase of participation.
Forbeck is also working on leaving her grandchildren a legacy of family research after travels to Holland and Ireland to unearth more family history. She's already discovered an ancestor in the Civil War as well as Vinkenvleugel, an early predecessor to the Fink family. Forbeck plans to continue her adventures seeking out clues to her family's past to hand over to the future generations.

1FamilyTree Registered User:
Note User deceased 2018

Obituary:
Helen Fink Forbeck of Beloit, Wisconsin, passed away at her home on January 14, 2018, surrounded by her loving family.
Helen was born in Appleton, Wisconsin, on December 7, 1944, and was raised in her family home in Menasha, Wisconsin. She graduated from St. Mary's High School in Menasha in 1963, and she then attended Marquette University and graduated in 1967 with a bachelor's degree.
She taught middle school in Milwaukee until she moved to Beloit in 1970, where she was a devoted mother to her four children. She later worked as a job developer at OIC. She was an active member of the Democratic Party and the League of Women Voters for decades, and she served on the Beloit City Council from 1985 to 1991, during which she was elected the first woman president of the City Council. She left the Council to work for US Congressman Les Aspin as his ombudsperson. When he became Secretary of Defense in 1993, she moved to Alexandria, Virginia, to work at the Pentagon for the Department of Defense. She returned to Beloit in 2002 to help with the arrival of her quadruplet grandchildren and spend more time with the rest of her children and grandchildren. In 2003, she opened the Beloit office of US Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and ran it until her retirement in 2013. She became interested in genealogy many years ago and spent countless hours researching her family's history. She volunteered regularly at Caritas and spent much of her retirement visiting with her children and grandchildren, playing games (especially multiple-hand solitaire) and doing jigsaw puzzles.
Survivors include her children Matt (Ann) Forbeck of Beloit, Wisconsin; Mark Forbeck of Lake Mills, Wisconsin; and Kim (Todd Dunsirn) Forbeck, and Jody (Nanni Marta) Forbeck of Shorewood, Wisconsin; brothers Tom Fink and John (Sue) Fink and sister Joan (Dick) Kuhn; grandchildren Martin, Patrick, Nicholas, Kenneth, and Helen Forbeck; Savannah and Delaney Forbeck; Murray, Henry, and Leo Dunsirn; and Luke and Matteo Marta, along with several beloved nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in eath by her sister and brother-in-law Mary C. (Fink) and Charlie Atchinson; sister-in-law Barbara Fink; nephews Thomas and Gregory Fink; parents Berenice (Murray) Fink and Ray J. Fink; grandparents Mary (Daly) and Martin Murray, and Bridget (Finnerty) and John B. Fink; great-grandparents Winifred (Kelly) and Thomas Murray, Ellen (Hogan) and John Daly, Anna (Lauterbach) and Herman Fink (Vinkenvleugel), and Catherine (Keating) and Thomas Finnerty.
The greatest hope she had for this world as she left it is that our current president leaves office as soon as possible, along with any other bigots, homophobes, and racists. She asked those who support such beliefs to not dare to attend her visitation or funeral.
A memorial service of remembrance for Helen will be at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, January 21, 2018 in the Daley Murphy Wisch & Associates Funeral Home and Crematorium, 2355 Cranston Road, Beloit, WI. Visitation of remembrance will be from 12:00 p.m. until the time of service Sunday in the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, she requested that donations be made in her name to Caritas Community Resource Center or Beloit Regional Hospice.