POLKA, Helen Louise

Today's News-Herald, Lake Havasu City, Arizona - Published Tuesday, January 11, 2011 - Helen Louise Polka, a longtime resident, age 95, passed away Jan. 3, 2011 in Lake Havasu City. Helen was born Dec. 26, 1915, to Elbert P. and Nellie M. “Schulte” Dugan, near Dodgeville, Iowa. She was raised on a farm in Des Moines County and graduated high school in 1934. She later married William J. Polka in October 1941, in Rome, Ga. After World War II, the couple settled in Rock Island, Ill. David joined the family, followed by Jeff, Kevin and Mary Ann. In January 1969, the family moved to Lake Havasu City, where opportunities for employment were plentiful and the desert climate appealed to the family. Her husband “Bill” helped reconstruct the London Bridge. Helen, Bill and the family worked together to build their first home in Lake Havasu City. Helen was employed as a secretary for optometrist, Dr. William Huls, until her retirement. Among her interests were gardening, traveling, reading and cooking, and she was active in her church. Helen was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, William; and son, Kevin; also her brothers, Harold and Paul Dugan; sisters, Betty Ternoey and Bernadine DeWitte. She is survived by three children, David, of Lake Havasu City, Jeffrey, of Umpqua, Ore., and Mary Ann (Smith), of Punta Gorda, Fla.; six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren; sisters, Mary Rita Daxon, of Rock Island, Ill., Martha Kroeger, of Rock Island, Ill., Alice Johnson, of Chicago, Ill., Joanne DeVrieze, of East Moline, Ill., Pauline, of Wichita, Kan.; and brother, John Dugan, of Milan, Ill. Helen will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved her. There will be a service at Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, 3200 S. Jamaica Blvd., Lake Havasu City, Ariz., Sunday at 4 p.m. Thoughts and condolences may be submitted to the family at www.lietz-frazefuneralhome.com.