Helen Cockerill
August 18, 1928 ~ December 14, 2011
Helen (Pederson) Cockerill of Mapleton, ND, age 83 died peacefully on Wednesday, December 14th, 2011, in Eventide Linden Tree Circle, Moorhead, MN, under the care of her family, Eventide Linden Tree Circle, and Red River Hospice.
Helen, the daughter of Alvin and Hattie (Bakke) Pederson was born on August 18, 1928, in a house near the Pederson farmstead, Northwood, ND. She was baptized and confirmed in the Washington Lutheran Church, rural Northwood, ND. She attended school and graduated from Northwood High School. She moved to Fargo, ND where she attended Interstate Business College and then worked at Northwestern Bell Telephone Co.
Helen then met and married Leon (Jude) Cockerill Jr. on October 9, 1949, in First Lutheran Church in Fargo, ND. They moved to Harwood, ND, before moving to the farm in rural Mapleton, ND. Then they owned and operated Jude's Truck Stop in West Fargo, before returning to the farm in Mapleton. On the farm she was a full-time stay at home mom and farm wife. She helped care and feed family members and hired hands. Harvest time was especially busy. Favorite foods enjoyed by family, farm hands, and all visitors were potato salad, buns, and sugar cookies. She always served everyone first waiting till all had finished eating, and then she sat down to eat. At times there was not much food left to eat. She was both, as in the Bible, a Mary and Martha. She so welcomed people and then served them.
Helen's faith in her Lord was very strong. She was a member of Temple Baptist Church, Fargo. Her greatest accomplishment was being a wonderful, loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and sister.
Helen is survived by her husband, Leon (Jude) Cockerill Jr., Mapleton. Her children Pamela Coleman, Moorhead, Lon (Kheng) Cockerill, Fargo, ND, Randi (Christine) Cockerill, Moorhead, Brian Cockerill, Mapleton, Leon Cockerill III., Mapleton. Her 2 grandchildren, CA Coleman, Staunton, VA, Chip (Martha) Coleman, Apple Creek, OH. Her 3 step-grandchildren, Eng (Hiep) Nguyen, Moorhead, Leap (Scarlett) Chear, Fargo, Cathie Lewis, Moorhead. Her 3 great grandchildren, Cody Coleman and Silas and Ezra Coleman. Her 5 step great-grandchildren, Brandon, Nicolas, and Rachel Nguyen and Hunter and Olivia Chear. Her sisters, Audrey Pederson, Superior, WI, Myrna Birrenkott, Fargo, Ione (Ralph) Leet, Bismarck. Her brother Alden (Shirley) Pederson, Fargo.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Blanche Sather, and brother-in law Elwood Sather.
Helen donated her body for medical research at the University of North Dakota Medical School.
You may want to in lieu of providing flowers give a memorial to Eventide or Red River Hospice or Temple Baptist Church.
We thank everyone for the love and kindness shown to Helen and family throughout her life, in good health and in bad. We love you all.
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I really miss my sister, Helen. Since I lived near her, she was always there to answer any questions I had on cooking, how to treat bee stings, etc, or she was just great to visit with on the phone. She was such a wonderful helpful, giving lady. she was an angel.
Bismarck ND
We will always remember our Aunt Helen as warm, welcoming, having a great sense of humor and a wonderful laugh. She set such a good example for all of us being selfless and always being concerned about others before herself. We loved going to the farm and visiting the Cockerills it was such a wonderful time to be with Helen and family. We were all blessed to have her in our family and will cherish her memory. We will love you forever Helen.
We are so sorry for the loss of our aunt Helen. We have wonderful memories of times spent with all the cousins at the farm, playing baseball, and having such a good time. She was loved by many people. Our love and prayers to the family.
Hawley MN
I was sorry to read of the passing of your mon. She was everything the Forum said and then some. I recall such as calm and caring person, caring for others without trying to stand out in the crowd. I remember riding along to the Girls State cermony and she had such back pain, but attended to support Pam, while needing to lie flat across the back seat on the ride home–what I don’t remember is hearing one complaint from her about it all–she simply was a great mom.
Loree (Nelson) Jegtvig
Bismarck ND
We have many loving memories of Aunt Helen. Always so welcoming in our visits to the farm, greeting us from the kitchen when we entered the house. We will miss her dearly. Doug & Rhonda
Minneapolis MN
My prayers are with the Cockerill family. I was fortunate to have become one her family members and although we didn’t see each other often – her gentle sweet welcome into her home is something I will remember and cherish.
She is now at peace with our Lord and Saviour…
Those of us who were lucky enough to have Helen in their lives know, she was truly one in a million. Such a caring, selfless woman! I will miss my Aunt dearly! The last time I saw her was about a week before she passed, and even though she was in soo much pain, she was still able to laugh at the conversations we were having. We love you all…Andi, Megan, John, and Logan
Bismarck ND
It’s hard to lose my big sister. I can see her peaceful face towards the end even when she was hurting. But we know she’s with Jesus.
We’ll miss stopping by the farm for a cup of coffee and lunch when we are on our way to Fargo. She was very dear to me. Sis, Ione