Helen Schafer Toeneboehn

Helen Schafer Toeneboehn, 88, of Carroll, IA, and formerly of Kansas City, Missouri, died Sunday, April 29, 2012 at St. Anthony Nursing Home in Carroll. Mass of the Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, May 3, 2012 at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Carroll. The Celebrant will be Fr. Timothy Schott assisted by Deacon Timothy Murphy. Con-Celebrant will be Fr. Timothy Johnson. Music will be by Marcy Anderson and the St. Lawrence Choir with Kathleen Macke as song leader. Lectors will be Gary Schafer and Steve Schafer. Gift Bearers will be Kathryn Braddy, Rita Schafer and Lorie Schafer. Eucharistic Ministers will be Winnie Geelan Potthoff, Peg Scheidt and Deb Gute. Honorary Casket Bearers will be Helen’s grandsons, Peter Schafer, Simon Schafer and Samuel Schafer. Casket Bearers will be: Glen Braddy, Jason Braddy, Nick Braddy, Luke Odenbrett, John Bode, and Maurice Odenbrett. Burial will be on Saturday, May 5, 2012 at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas. Friends may call at the Sharp Funeral Home in Carroll after 4 p.m. on Wednesday where there will be a Christian Wake Service by St. Lawrence Parish at 6:30 p.m. The casket will be moved to St. Lawrence Church at 9 a.m. on Thursday where visitation will resume until time of the funeral mass. Additional visitation and prayers will be held for Helen on Friday at the Muehlebach Funeral Home in Kansas City, Missouri. Helen’s family suggests memorials to St. Anthony Nursing Home, St. Anthony Hospice, or Lewy Body Dementia Association. Local funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Sharp Funeral Home in Carroll and online condolences may be left for Helen’s family at www.sharpfuneral.com. Helen Schafer-Toeneboehn died April 29, 2012, after a long battle with Lewy Body Disease. She was born March 30, 1924, to Aloys and Elizabeth (Bode) Nepper in Elgin, NE. She married Laurence Schafer on April 24, 1945, and they had three children. They moved from Omaha, NE to Kansas City, KS, in 1952. Laurence died on June 5, 1961. Helen remarried in 1980 to Milton Toeneboehn and retired from her executive position at a National Health and Welfare Fund in Kansas City to move to Maryland in 1982 where Milt’s five children lived. After Milt died on January 28, 1996, Helen moved to Carroll, IA, in April of 2002 and lived here until her death. Helen was a loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother who enjoyed most being with family in all her travels. She was a woman of great faith who met the many obstacles in her life with grace, dignity, and courage. Helen will be especially missed for her smile that could light up a room and make everyone feel at home. Survivors include her children, Gerald (Rita) Schafer of Kansas City, MO, Stephen (Lorie) Schafer of Irvine, California, and Kathryn (Glen) Braddy of Carroll; her grandchildren: Peter Schafer, Simon Schafer, Samuel Schafer, Jason (Miren Arango) Braddy, and Nicholas (Nicole) Braddy; two great-grandchildren, Mikel and Loren Braddy; five step-children: John (Gabriella) Toeneboehn of British Columbia, Debbie (Ron) Meledandri of Murraysville, PA, Mary Pat (Jim) Grover of Annapolis, MD, Michael (Kathy) Toeneboehn of Annapolis, MD, and Peter (Margarete) Toeneboehn of Fulton, MD; 11 step-grandchildren; six step-great-grandchildren; her sister, Caroline (Maurice) Odenbrett of Fulda, MN; her sister-in-law, Tillie Nepper of LeSeuer, MN; as well as many members of her extended family. She was preceded in death by her mother in childbirth; her father and step-mother; half sister, Dorothy Klosterman; half brother, Robert Nepper; and adopted brother, Dick Moser.

Helen Schafer Toeneboehn

March 30, 1924 - April 29, 2012