“I have been busy all my life! Take your experience as it comes. You don’t know from day to day what’s going to happen. Even if your plans don’t work out you always have to try.”
These words of wisdom are from Helen Haberkamp, who was born in Arlington, IL in 1909. She was raised in the Lutheran–Missouri Synod where she learned to read the Bible in German. At age 16, she started working as a typist for Butler Brothers Wholesalers and typed the first letter for the Ben Franklin Store chain. Later she worked as an auditor for the Post Office in Hindahl, IL.
Helen opened her home to many of her husband’s younger siblings after his parents died. She told them, “this is your family now and no one is better than another.” After retirement she took care of three ladies with Alzheimer’s and then became a vacation live-in nanny quite by accident. Her neighbor’s nanny had a family emergency and asked if Helen could stay with the kids for a bit and “she never came back!” Helen had to explain to the parents what happened when they returned a week later. After that she was their go-to person and word spread about how great Helen was with the children, so she was always working. If the children misbehaved, she always sat down and explained what they did wrong because “they don’t always know. The second time they did it they got punished.”
Widowed at age 60, Helen was courted by a few widowers but “they just complained about how now they have to do their own cooking and do their own laundry.” Finally she just told them, “You don’t need a wife. Hire a maid!” She certainly was ahead of her time!
Helen traveled extensively around the world until well into her 90s. Her son in law told her to “always have your passport ready!” She went on an African Safari that was stopped by a herd of elephants; strolled on the Great Wall of China and witnessed the poverty in Russia while riding on the Trans-Siberian Railroad. She finally quit driving at 95 when she retired at Madison House Independent & Assisted Living.
Helen enjoys a nice “scotch on the rocks” and taps her feet to the entertainment at Friday’s Madison House Happy Hour. She speaks on the phone daily to her only living sister who is 102. Helen has a daughter and son, two grandsons and three great-grandchildren.
Helen believes faith, family and honesty are so important, exclaiming, “Always pay your bills!” She also feels it is very important to get out of her apartment every day, “even if you don’t feel like it and see what’s going on!
