Helen K. is a woman who knows how to spring into action. From a young age, she felt that she needed to go to work and contribute financially. Hellen even found her strength to help others in idols like Rosie the Riveter. While staying at a local skilled nursing facility in Rochester Hills, she recalled her experience in loving and caring while being the strongest person you can be …
Born and raised in Hamtramck, Michigan…
Helen chose never to leave the city that was near and dear to her heart. She can tell you the histories of every store, church, and building within the city borders. She attended school until the age of fifteen when she decided to drop out. This decision was prompted by two events. Her parents had separated, and her mother was struggling to pay the bills. She felt that she needed to go to work and contribute financially, but she was only fifteen. She lied to the manager at the local meatpacking plant, stating that she was eighteen, and began her first job. The second reason for discontinuing school was that she had met and fallen in love with Cashmere, her future husband. Despite meeting at this time, they waited and did not marry until Helen was eighteen, in 1935.
When the second war began…
in 1939, Helen was still working at the meat plant, but due to the male population being sent to war, Helen, along with many women, went to work building and repairing warplanes. A true “Rosie the Riveter”!! There was one job that no one was able to successfully manage, which involved placing a small screw inside of an even smaller area of the plane without transferring any of the greases into the hole. Many attempted this task, but only Helen was successful.
Helen’s home life was one of love and laughter.
She and her husband built a home and welcomed not only her mother but her brother, sister in law and their child to live with them. Everyone respected and cared for one another, and Helen states that they lived as one big happy unit. A favorite pastime was daily Bingo, at churches and halls throughout the city. Helen still loves to play, and you can find her at every Bingo event in the facility.
At 102 years of age, Helen still carries her strength and independence into each day. Her mind is sharp, and she often outshines those half her age. Asked if she had any wisdom to pass on to the younger generations, she stated, “Be kind to one another. Love your family. And stay busy!!”
