Helen L. Desko
December 23, 1934 ~ October 19, 2012
Helen Leila Desko, 77, a long time resident of Pearl, PA died at 3:50 a.m. on Friday ,October 19, 2012 at Grove City Medical Center. Born December 23, 1934 in Franklin, PA , Helen was the daughter of the late William and Myrtle M. (Burns) Simpson. She was married to Albert (Toot) Desko on November 16, 1953. He preceded her in death on August 14, 1991. Helen was a long time member of Hickory Grove Church of God, and her faith guided her life. She provided her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren a lesson through example of how to balance deeply held convictions with unwavering compassion for all living beings. Her great passion to animal welfare meant that she not only had dozens of animals, particularly cats, as companions over the years, but was also a fierce advocate for the rights of these creatures. She had a deep love of gardening and the starts of clippings she nurtured and gave freely grace many area landscapes today. Mrs. Desko is survived by her three children, Mrs. Laurel Dittman and her husband, Donald of Polk, Julia A. Fisher of Polk, and Albert Michael (Mike) Desko and his wife, Pam of Polk; 6 grandchildren, Michael Dittman and his wife, Amy of Ithaca, NY, Jason Dittman and his wife, Emily of Syracuse, NY, Crystal Willyoung and her fiance, Steve Armant of Franklin, Brandi Kerr and her fiance, Brad Winkler of Polk, Andy Desko and his wife, Heather of Buckingham, PA, and Leah Desko at home and her fiance, Chance Stebbins; and 10 great grandchildren. She is additionally survived by two sister-in-laws, Marian Simpson of North East, PA and Bev Desko of Polk; a brother-in-law, Steve Desko of Polk, and several nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents and husband, Helen was preceded in death by her three brothers, Clarence A. Simpson, Sr., Harry Simpson, and Carl Simpson; and three sisters, Eltha Brakeman, Laurabelle Cramer, and Edna Vogan. Family and friends will be received at the Gardinier Funeral Home, Inc., 1315 Chestnut Street, Franklin, on Sunday, October 21, 2012 from 2 to 4 p.m. ONLY, and Monday, October 22, 2012 from 3 to 7 p.m. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, October 23 at 11 a.m. at the Funeral Home, with Rev. Johnny Pennington, pastor of the Hickory Grove Church of God, officiating. Interment will be in Hickory Grove Cemetery. The family suggests that memorial contributions be made to Shelter Rock Ministries, P.O. Box 1158, Boone, NC 28607; Grove City Area Pet Rescue, Grove City, PA 16127; or City Kitties, Trap/Neuter/Release Program, P.O. Box 9461, Philadelphia, PA 19139. To send online condolences, flowers, cards, or for further information, family and friends are invited to visit www.gardinierfuneralhome.com.
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A faithful and loyal friend always. I will never forget your friendship and loyalty and will miss you till the day I join you in heaven. I cannot imagine earth without you and know you will add a lot to those already in heaven. Wonder how many of the cats you had loved were waiting for you at the Rainbow Bridge, sure was a lot. Loved you Helen, am left only looking forward to seeing you in person once I go as well.
Laurel, Julie & Mike
Very saddened to hear of Aunt Helen’s passing. I will always remember her quick wit, love for reading and animals. I also have a few memories of a long long time ago, when she carted Judy & I around town. I’m seeing her with that very dark hair and a pretty red sweater on, I will never forget.
May you Rest In Peace.
Ruth and Dick Welton
mike and family, so sorry for your loss. this is a time to count your blessings and keep your faith. all the best to all-u-all. means family
Laurel, Julie and Mike,
We were so sorry to hear of Aunt Helen’s passing. Our hearts and prayers
are with you as well as my memories of the good times when we were kids.
Luanne & Larry
Rest in peace aunt helen prayers are with your family.
My heart goes out to all of Helen’s family, she was such a wonderful lady. I am honoured to have met her all those years ago on her internet group for cat lovers. She was such a kind, witty, wise and very genuine person, I’m going to miss her forever.
There are no words to say to fully express our sadness for all of you. May your memories bring you comfort, and your tears turn to laughter in honor of a beautiful mother and a great friend to all who knew her. She will be missed.
We are so saddened at the passing of our dear friend Helen. Through the years I got to know her pretty well through our animal-loving group and then had the brief but memorable time to meet her in person down here in Florida. I quickly realized in “real” life she was just as she came across in emails – caring, compassionate, spunky, feisty, intelligent, witty, empathetic, loyal, devoted to animals, family, friends, her Savior. The Animal Kingdom has lost an awesome friend but Heaven has gained one. She was one of those few in life who left her indelible mark here on earth. Helen, I miss you and will always treasure our friendship! Give Cherez and your other furries (and mine!) gentle strokes for me! And Helen, your shed here still awaits….
Swift and gentle journey to Helen…and healing energies to her family, I knew her only from the Katz group but she was always smart, witty, and brought a smile to all our faces when we read her posts. Blessed Be, Summer
I want to send my deepest condolences for your loss of such a wonderful woman. I knew Helen from a Yahoo cat group and she was a kind and loving woman. She will be missed by me. I was so sorry to hear about her passing. You are all in my thoughts and prayers.
My heart is broken. I cant tell you how much Helen meant to me. Although we only got to spend one day together in person, she has been near and dear to my heart for over 16 years. Our love of all things feline brought us together, by way of a little Yahoo group called KatznStuff. Through that group, we bonded, along with a handful of other very special people. Helen was our matriarch, and whether through her quick wit, or her strong beliefs, we all grew to love her and respect her immensely. She was always there for me and the others, if we had a question, or needed advice of any kind. She didn’t hold back, no not our Helen. I loved that about her. Our sense of humor was very much in alignment with each other. I got her and she got me, regardless of our age difference. I truly believe that God poured us from the same mold, and I can only pray that I am able to live up to and be, even half of the woman that she was. Please dont let her story end here. Tell all of her stories, no matter how funny or how serious they were, to your children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, as there is still much to be learned from this woman. Those who never got to meet her or be touched by her sweet soul in some way, sure missed out. Rest now my friend. We will carry on from here and will keep our love for you deep within our hearts. Until we meet again, Sweet Helen. Say hi to all the fur kids for me, kiss their furry little heads and save me a seat. We will sure have a lot of catching up to do.
Though I only had the pleasure of spending time with Helen as an adult a few times, Marian Simpson (my brother Carl”s step-mother) did send me news of Helen the past few years and I did come to know her quite well from what Marian shared with me. Helen seemed to be a very compassionate, family-oriented person, who gave freely of herself and time to her family and friends and the many cats that she provided care for when no one else would. I was so sorry to hear of her passing. I know she will be missed by those who knew her well and loved her.
2:56 in the morning 6 years ago you went to be with grandpa and I am sitting here thinking about you. I miss you so much, I miss spending time with you, I miss talking to you. I’ll never forget the easter egg hunts, the quilting, being flea bait, your collection of bells and elephants you had, walking Maggie with you around the same trails every night. I miss coming down and seeing you in your chair with your real fur (cat) blanket. I miss just sitting in the same room with you. I miss coming down checking on you, making your coffee and toast every morning, feeding the cats. Really wish you were right down the road so I could come see you…I love you!