Helen Mae Romeo

Helen moved to Seattle in 1947. She walked to work at Clark's 'Round the Clock restaurant on the corner of Olive & Terry, at the Richmond Hotel in Chinatown, and at the lunch counter at MacDougall Southwick Department Store, on the 6th floor, "The store was on 2nd Ave. & Pike. It was the best store to buy a coat. J.C. Penney was right across the street, across 2nd Ave. I met Carlo when I was working at MacDougall Southwick, Feb. 1950."

Helen and Carlo Vincent Romeo were married by Father Richard Store at St. Mary's, August 1950, but Carlo was called back to the Army for Korea and shipped out in January 1951. "I lived with (my sister) Barb on Denny Way and walked to work at MacDougall Southwick lunch counter until my 7th month. Carlo Jr. was born June 17, 1951."

Helen & Carlo had 7 children. They were part of the O'Dea, Holy Names and St. George communities.

There was an earthquake in Seattle April 29, 1965; Helen was on a gurney at Providence, being prepared for brain tumor surgery. When the shaking subsided Dr. Berens' team asked her if she was ready to proceed with the surgery; in Helen's style she responded "I'm ready when you are, do what you have to do." She came out of surgery with only left arm & leg permanent paralysis. She came home to her loving, supportive family and was back on her two feet again. Her friend, Mary Brown, took her swimming at Red Shield pool for two years after the surgery. "We couldn't get my left leg to float; she'd put those rings on it. But without them it was just lead, stayed on the bottom. She came up to the house with some wigs after the surgery and I picked one to wear 'til my hair grew back. I had enough flowers up there in the hospital, so the ladies at St. George donated to the wig."

Some things Helen could hold in her memory while she walked the rest of her life with a cane: "Miss Murphy, a teacher at the orphanage, arranged for me to take tap-dancing lessons. I won a prize for tap-dancing." "I liked to ice skate. One Christmas I wanted to ask for a pair of skates. In October the Anaconda Copper Mining Company would come around with a wish list and everybody got to write down 2 things they would like for Christmas. If you didn't get the first one, you would most likely get the 2nd thing you wrote down on the list. We probably got the most presents, because all of our brothers and sisters at home sent us each something, and we must have had the most brothers and sisters. When the Gift List from the Mining Company came around in October, I wanted to put down just one thing - ice skates. We always had skates at the Orphanage, but they were shared, and you rarely got to wear any that fit right. I wanted my own pair so I could really try and skate."

"At the orphanage they taught the girls to darn. I was known in my family as the best sock-darner. Pappy Romeo wore black frisco jeans; I used to mend them by hand for him, I'd match the weave. You should always save the back part (thigh) of your jeans, it never gets worn like the front. I had an old treadle machine to sew them, I pinned 'em to match up the weave, basted with white thread, sewed with black. Thick cotton, the hemmed patch laid on the outside. You could buy the new jeans on Rainier at `Chubby & Tubby's' or `Frisco Jeans'." But in no way was Helen a person to slow down and feel sorry for herself, or sit around "twiddling her thumbs." With the help of those talented children and husband Carlo, everything always got done. She hung socks & bed linens on the clothesline, "You get so you can smell the rain coming." She came up with many ingenious ways to work in the garden, "You never know how much you can really get done until you accomplish it with 1 hand." Everybody helped to get dinner on the table, and she made a killer meatloaf. She enjoyed long walks greeting her neighbors, and riding the bus all around Seattle.

When a nephew was 3, he joined his mom and Helen in the yard for chores. Helen asked her little nephew for a "helping hand." When you're three, an appeal for your help makes you taller. She knew the little ways to help a child grow. That's what she was made of - the desire to have happy children, happy people. She had only one hand that worked well, but the things she did for others made her the owner of the most helping hands I know.

There are many things that Helen said many times. Here are some of my favorites: As we helped her get up from a seat, "I'm only going through this so that, God help us, none of you kids have to go through it." And, "I pray that you all have the patience it must take to help me." "I've got great kids." "That's the prettiest rainbow I ever saw." "I love lilacs." "Go, kids, go. You're doin' great!!" At the end of something she had to say about something, "What can I say. I'm speechless." And last but not least, "I love you Cori Lynn." I love you, too, Auntie Helen.

A couple years ago Helen was asked to describe the 3 most challenging days of her life. She did not have to think long to answer. (She came up with four). "The first was when my Dad sent me off to Billings to live with people I did not know. I was 16. I would be living with them and going to high school there. I stood there with my suitcase and was going away by myself, leaving Millie & Dennis for the first time in my life, all by myself." "When that big black car took us away to the orphanage after my Mother died, but I don't think I was old enough to think of it as challenging." "My first day at work at 'Round the Clock. I was 18 and had just moved to Seattle. I moved in with my sister Barb and she already had a job for me where she worked. I was worried about it, did not know what to expect. I had worked in Kalispell at the drugstore counter, as a waitress there, too. But this was different, it was the big city." "When I brought little Carlo home from the hospital to my in-laws, Charlie & Mary's. Carlo was in Korea and I was moving in with his parents with the baby. They were nice, they were good to me. But it was their house and there I was with little Carlo, a brand new baby. Charlie & Mary were good people."

While here we find Adventure and hardship Fortune and hostility Honor and rejection We are grateful to those who befriend us. Helen found some of all of these things on her sojourn here with us. She embraced imperfect people. She is grateful to those who shared the brighter side of life with her and found a way to show her their love.

What is Helen Mae Romeo doing now? She was at a track meet a few years ago. The runners were warming up, running on the grassy field with their shoes off. Helen stood with her cane, "What I'd give to run barefoot and feel the grass on the bottom of my feet again." That's what she's doing now. And flying.

Helen died in the Romeo home, having lived with the family she always wanted, where all of us were welcome and loved.

She was preceded in death by her husband Carlo Romeo Sr. and her son Carlo Romeo Jr. She is survived by her children Rick (Dana Sullivan), Bob, Diana (Demeco Williams), Chuck (Heidi McPherson), Maria, Helen (Greg Kessler) and grand children James and Chris Claeys, Brandon and Alyssa Romeo, Blake Kessler and Renee Sullivan, and her much loved niece Cori (Mark, Andrew and Wyatt Halverson) along with many close relatives and friends.

The Romeo family extends their heartfelt gratitude to Theresa Pankiewicz, mom's dear beloved friend, Mike Rittman, for enriching her 2013 summer with countless field trips and Ed Campy, for the "Paul Newman Day".

Celebration of Helen's life will be held at Teamsters' Building 14675 Interurban Ave S Tukwila, Wa.98168 on June 1, 2014 Noon until 3pm

Remembrances can be made in Helen's name to your favorite charity.

`We cannot do great things, but we can do small things with great love.' Mother Teresa