Helen Larsen

MINDEN, Neb. ? Helen Henrietta Larsen, 96, of Minden, Neb., died Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Kearney County Health Services-Hospital in Minden, Neb.

Memorial services were held at 11 a.m., Thursday, July 2, at First Christian Church in Minden, Neb., with the Rev. Michael Schmidt officiating. Burial was at Minden Cemetery before the memorial service. Visitation was from 4 to 6 p.m., Wednesday at Layton-Craig Funeral Home in Minden, Neb. Memorials are suggested to Water 4 Haiti, First Christian Church or Bethany Home.

Mrs. Larsen was born Feb. 21, 1919, in Tama, the daughter of Glenn B. and Laura (Warner) Holden. She married James C. Larsen on June 5, 1942, at her parents? home in Washington.

She attended rural schools in Illinois and Iowa and graduated from Washington High School in 1937. She taught rural Washington County schools for five years. She and her husband farmed the family farm east of Minden, Neb., until they moved into town in 1971. She was formerly a member of Westminster United Presbyterian Church, where she taught Sunday school and Youth Club and was active in Presbyterian Women. In the past, she had served in local presbytery and synod positions and was the presbytery representative when the Synod of the Lakes and Prairies was formed and the presbyteries were realigned in 1970. She joined the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) on March 28, 2010. She helped organize Kearney County Volunteer Service League in 1971 and was the first president. She served on Bethany Home Board for two terms, was secretary and was a member of the Bethany Home Building Committee when Bethany Home Chapel was constructed and dedicated. In 2005, after 34 years of voluntary service to Bethany Home, she was awarded Volunteer of the Year. She then was nominated at the state level and became Volunteer of the Year for the state of Nebraska. She then was chosen as Volunteer of the Year of all 50 states. Eleven thousand nursing homes were represented, and after her acceptance and thank-you speech, 6,000 delegates gave her a standing ovation as the No. 1 volunteer of the nation.

Surviving are one son, Charles and wife Nancy of Minden, Neb.; one daughter, Roberta, of Minden, Neb.; two grandchildren; twin great-granddaughters; two great-grandsons; two brothers, Harvey Holden and wife Mary, and Birchard Holden, all of Iowa; two sisters, Virginia Dunville, and Lila Shotwell and husband Stewart of Virginia; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, James, in 2001; two brothers, Edgar, in 2001, and Charles, in 2015; four sisters-in-law; and one brother-in-law.