Helen Smette
January 10, 1927 ~ February 12, 2015
Helen passed away on Thursday, February 12, 2015 at the Hillsboro Medical Center Hospital under the care of Hospice of the Red River Valley.
Helen was born January 10, 1927, at the home of her parents, Arthur and Lillie Bauman of Clark, SD. She attended a rural school through grade 8 and graduated from Clark High School. She then went on to Mankato Business College where she graduated from the Complete Secretarial Course. On November 5, 1950 she was united in marriage to Harvey Smette at the Plymouth Congregational Church in Clark.
Helen worked for legal firms in Huron, SD and in Fargo. She was last employed as the secretary/business manager at Central Valley School, Buxton-Reynolds, ND, from 1965-1997. Following her retirement from Central Valley School, she was employed at Silverman's Clothing in Grand Forks, ND.
After her marriage to Harvey, she was a member of Highland Lutheran Church, Cummings, later Ny Stavanger Free Lutheran Church in Buxton, and when moving transferred her membership to St. Paul’s Free Lutheran Church in Fargo.
Helen enjoyed working in her yard and garden, family get-togethers, and reading.
She is survived by sons Michael (Alice) of Fargo, Roger (Shellie) of Cummings, ND; grandson Nathan Huff (Kari) of Minneapolis MN; granddaughter Carrie Smette of Fargo; great grandson Finnegan Huff; brother Robert (Alma) Bauman of Clark, SD; sister-in-law Lillian Ludwig of Hillsboro, ND; nephew DuWayne (Kim) Bauman, nieces Joan (Rod) Steffens, Carol (Scott) Hanson, LeAnn (Dave) Schneider, 4 grand nephews, 4 grand nieces, 3 great grand nieces and one great grand nephew. She was preceded in death by husband Harvey and her parents.
Memorials may be directed to : St Paul’s Free Lutheran Church, 2802 12th St S, Fargo, ND; Highland Church Cemetery, Cummings ND 58223; American Diabetes Assn., PO Box 11454, Alexandria, VA 22312; or the Charity of your choice.
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My thoughts and prayers are with your family at this difficult time.
I worked at the Central Valley school and Helen was always the smiling face that greeted me as I entered the office. I remember her being such a kind, cheerful and helpful person. I know she will be missed. Treasure your memories. She was a wonderful lady. God bless her memory
Laurie Papenfuss
My deepest sympathies to Roger and the Smette Family on the passing of Helen. Take comfort knowing that you are in the thoughts and prayers of many friends and relatives.
Roger and family so sorry to hear of your loss. You mother was a very special person. Keeping you in my prayers.
We have the family of Helen in our thoughts and prayers. Helen was Bob’s “go to” person at CVS for many years. We have great memories of this special lady.
Thoughts and prayers in the loss of your loved one. She will always be Mrs. Smette to me. The smile on her face brings back so many memories of our time at Central Valley. She was consistently friendly and a great example of efficiency. My sympathies.
We were sorry to hear about the passing of Helen. She was such a nice lady. She will be missed.
Helen and Russ
Mesa, Az
I was so sorry to read of Helen’s death. I worked “next door” to her at Central Valley school for several years and appreciated her efficiency, helpfulness, and upbeat personality. I had gotten her West Fargo address a couple years ago and thought of her often as I drove down 13th Ave to see my granddaughters who live in West Fargo. So sorry for your loss. We are in Florida so I am unable to attend Helen’s memorial service.
I am very sorry Michael and Roger for the loss of your mother. Losing someone is a very difficult thing to go through.
I worked with Helen for many years at Central Valley. She was a wonderful woman. She put in a lot of time out there and she really enjoyed it. Every teacher and administrator counted on her for everything. She meant so much to the school, students, and personnel .. I really missed seeing her everyday when she retired.
Your family is in our thoughts and prayers.
Our deepest sympathy. Helen was a very kind lady and we were very happy to have known her.
I enjoyed many years working along side of Helen. We created a fake Science Fair project where Helen collected dust bunnies as her project , and caged them in strawberry containers. (She took first place, but then was the only entry). She had a great sense of humor. She was loved by many and will be missed by all who knew her.
Dear Mike, Alice, Roger and Shellie, My Sympathies to all of you at this time of loosing your Dear Mother. Pastor Bruce and myself thought the world of your Parents. We loved to visit with them and have them over for dinner. In the last few years I would stop and visit with your Mom when ever I was in Fargo. I always enjoyed Her phone calls just to check on me, Blessed be Her memory. Love in Jesus, Phyllis
One cannot think of Central Valley School without Helen Smette coming to mind. At every school reunion, her name was mentioned with a story or two. She was so helpful, did her job as well as maybe two others, and always had a smile on her face. You could tell she enjoyed being around students. Our thoughts and prayers go to her family. We are all blessed by having known her.