Helen Mary (Ley) Flanagan

HELEN M. FLANAGAN (LEY) of Green Bay, Wisconsin, passed away Aug. 26th, 2010 at age 89. Helen was born at the Ley Family Farm located 4 miles south of East De Pere on Hwy 57 and 1 mile west on Old Military Road. She was raised and lived on the family farm till she was 18 years old. She went to a country school called Ravine School which was about 1 ½ miles south of the farm house on Hwy 22. She later went to high school at East De Pere High where she graduated. She went on to Kaukauna Normal College where she studied to be a grade school teacher for 2 years. There Helen met Jerome Flanagan who later became her husband. They had one baby boy named Deny. Both Jerome and Denny have passed away. Most of Helen’s life she taught grade schools at Greenleaf and Green Bay, Wisconsin, and she loved to teach. She went back to college at Oshkosh later in life to get her Bachelor’s Degree in Education and a Master’s Degree in Education. She had also earned 70 credits toward her Doctorate degree. Helen’s father was Joseph H. Ley and her mother was Mary (Baeten) Ley. She has two sisters: Anne married Warren Hare (deceased) in Ohio; and Mary Pat married Harvey Ashenbrenner (deceased) in De Pere, Wisconsin. Her brothers were John Ley married to Mabel in De Pere, both deceased; and Donald Ley and his wife Anne in Greenleaf, Wis.; and Joseph L. Ley married to Patricia at De Pere, Wis. Martin Ferrier had been a friend of Helen’s for many years, right up to the day she passed away. She had many nieces and nephews and great nieces and great nephews. Helen was active in AARP, did volunteer work for St. Vincent’s Mobile Meals Program, and helped others with the living will. She also enjoyed helping out at the Weidner Center. She was a member of the Delta Kapa Gama Society. Helen was a member of Nativity Church in Green Bay for many years. Family and friends may call Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010, at Cotter Funeral Home, 860 N. Webster Ave., De Pere, from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., with a Rosary Service at 7:30 p.m. Visitation will continue at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, 220 S. Michigan Street, De Pere, on Wednesday, September 1, 2010, from 9:00 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday at the church at 11:00 a.m. with Rev. John H. Harper officiating. Burial will be in Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Online condolences may be expressed to the family at www.cotterfuneralhome.com. Helen’s family would to thank the nurses and staff at Rennes Health Center for the loving care they gave Helen the past few years. From the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi: “and it is dying that we are born to eternal life.”