Helen G. Motz

Date of Birth

Mar 17,1919

Date of Death

Aug 02,2005

HELEN G. MOTZ, Age 86 of Elburn, passed away peacefully at Rosewood Care Center, St. Charles, Tuesday evening, August 2, 2005. Afflicted with Alzheimer’s, Helen’s winding road "home" was made sweeter by a devoted family and loving care.BORN: She was born March 17, 1919 on the family dairy farm on Keslinger Road. A life-long resident Elburn, she graduated from Elburn High School with the class of 1938 and never missed a class reunion. MARRIAGEOn June 1, 1939, she was united in marriage to Lawrence C. Motz in Sycamore. In that moment, Helen also began the transition from "dairy farmer to cattle feeder". A true farm wife of her generation, she shared the rigors of farming with her husband and together they raised five children. Settling on the hill just east of Elburn, they, like many others of that time, lived almost entirely on what they raised on the farm. Helen was frugal by nature and never failed to ask "what does it cost" or to tell her kids the price of the things she purchased, saying "well, here’s your bill". Between the barnyard and the garden, she needed only the bare necessities from Smith’s Grocery in Elburn and Herra’s Grocery took care of the beef. Helen paid the bill once a year and saved just enough to buy a bag of candy for the kids. Winter offered sledding down Rt. 38 to Pouley Rd. and Saturday nights they met their friends at the"Free Show" downtown (8mm movies shown on a back yard sheet), an ice cream cone from Gliddon’s and a book from the library. MEMBERSHIPS Helen was an active member of the Community Congregational Church where she enjoyed crafts every Tuesday morning for many years and serving dinners with friends in the Women’s Guild.She was a 4-H leader and lead the Cancer drive for a number of years. Her hands were never idle; always busy quilting, doing embroidery or making little corsages and gifts from brightly colored pins. Helen was also a fifty year member of the Kane County Home Extension. SURVIVORS She is survived by She is survived by five children: Jean Dow of St. Charles, ILBarbara (LeRoy) Forth and Judy (Leon) Forth, both of ElburnClaudia (Byron "Mike") Kaiser of DeKalb, IL andLawrence "Bud" (Pat) Motz of Batavia, ILEight grandchildrenTina (Steve) Schwanebeck of Glen Ellyn, Lisa (Brian) Kaczmarczyk of DeKalb, ILTerri (Tracy) of Stewart, IL, Glenn R. Forth of ElburnDeneen Ghiotto of Geneva, ILKim (Dale) VerVynck of West Chiago, ILCindy (Jeff) Jung of Elgin, IL Dawn (Lee) Nelson of of South Elginfourteen great grandchildren Carli Marie and Cameron Schwanebeck, Anthony J. Ghiotto, Lauren N. Munday,Jonathan J. Forth,Michelle, Melissa and Nicholas VerVynck,Matthew and Ashley JungRudy, Hayden and Leah Nelson Regina Kaczmarczyk PRECEDED She joins now her parents, George C. and Millie (Gaunt) Chrystal, her husband Lawrence, one brother and one sister in infancy and one son-in-law George Dow who preceded her in deathMEMORIAL A memorial has been established in her name to benefit the Community Congregational Church and Fox Valley Hospice. Memorial checks may be made payable to the Helen Motz Memorial and mailed in care of P.O. Box 66, Elburn, IL 60119. Tributes and memories may also be forwarded to the family through the same address or through www.conleycare.com.

Visitation will be held on Friday evening Aug. 5, 2005 from 4-8PM at Conley Funeral Home, Elburn, IL and Saturday from 1-2pm prior to the funeral. A service to celebrate her life will be held on Saturday July 6, 2005 at 2:00 PM at the funeral home where the Rev. Katherine Lawes will officiate.

Interment to follow at Blackberry Cemetery, Elburn.

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