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Helyn Ruth Beer Henry, 99, of Florida, formerly of Bellefontaine, died Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019.
The only daughter of Erie Edward and Nellie May Johnson Beer was born Sunday, July 20, 1919, in Bellefontaine.
She married Byron Wilson Henry on April 28, 1939, at the First Lutheran Church in Bellefontaine with only family present. She and Byron graduated from Bellefontaine High School in 1937 and 1938.
Byron enlisted in the military service the day after Pearl Harbor and was shipped out in July 1942.
Their only daughter, Marsha Lyn Henry Kontia, was born on Monday, March 15, 1943, and was 13 months old when her father returned from the service.
The family lived in Bellefontaine until 1954 and then moved to Ann Arbor, Mich. Helyn was first and foremost a mother and homemaker and later served as the secretary for the dean of the medical school at the University of Michigan. She retired in 1979 and moved to Ft. Myers, Fla., and enjoyed life in the sunshine. She later moved to Sebring, Fla., and in 2001, moved to the Douglas, Fla., area to be near her daughter. Helyn enjoyed almost 20 years at this location and recently had health problems leading to her residency with the angels.
She was a caring, giving, grateful, and generous individual and was dearly loved by her family.
She is survived by her daughter, Marsha (Loren) Kontia; two grandchildren, Kjersti Lyn (Randy) Kontio of Harbor Springs, Mich., and Kerrick Loren (Melissa) Kontio of Holland, Mich.; seven greatgrandchildren, Kyler Patrick (Tori), Krandall Rose (Nick), Kerigan Elizabeth, Kameron Nicholas, Madison Lauren, Keaton Elliott and MacKenzie June of Midland, Chicago, Harbor Springs, Mich., Muncie, Ind., and Holland.
At Helyn’s request, cremation has taken place and she will be resting next to Byron and her parents at the Philadelphia Cemetery in Logan County.
We fondly remember her 99th birthday party this past July.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Saugatuck Douglas Historical Center, Box 617, Douglas, MI 49406.
Condolences may be expressed at dykstrafuneralhome.com.