Obituary of Helene Barbara Gonzalez

Our beloved mother and matriarch of our family, Helene Barbara Gonzalez, passed from this life into the arms of our loving Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, February 10th, 2023.

Helene was born in Gross Bartelsdorf, East Prussia, Germany on April 26, 1921. She was the third oldest child of Paul and Barbara Korczykowski in a family of 8 children. She endured much hardship as a refugee from East Prussia including the tragic loss of her 2 year-old daughter, Ursula, and husband Johann during the Russian advancement. She fled to Bremerhaven, West Germany with youngest daughter Renate where she eventually was reunited with the rest of her family.

She lived and worked in Bremerhaven, taking care of her daughter and parents. There, Helene also met an American soldier, Pedro Gonzalez, who swept her off her feet and they were soon married in October, 1956. Three years later, she gave birth to her son, Michael, in Wuerzburg, West Germany. During that time, Renate married a German police officer, Wilfried Mueller and started her own family. Shortly thereafter, Pedro received orders that he would be stationed at Fort Huachuca, Arizona and with Helene and Michael in tow, moved to the United States. It needs to be said that Renate, Mike, Mutti and family remained close and visited each other quite frequently.

In the US, Helen worked as a housekeeper and devoted wife and mother and made many friends due to her charming and humorous personality. Helene never held grudges against those that wronged her and was a devoted member of Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic church. Her faith in the Lord Jesus was evident to all who met her. She was a true woman of prayer and relied on prayer to see her through hard times as well as good, lifting up all those who sought her help and even those who didn’t. There she also befriended many priests and was a favorite among the clergy and staff. She was strong and fierce in her love and protection of her family.

In December of 1974, Helene lost her husband to cancer and raised Michael as a single mom. Her patience and compassion was God-given and Michael could not have asked for a more caring and loving mother. She stood by him through thick and thin and was a rock in his life as she was to many others. God bless our beautiful and wonderful mother!

Helene is survived by her daughter Renate Mueller (Kniffka), son Michael, son-in-Law Wilfried Mueller, grandchildren Petra and Frank and great-grandchildren Jasmin, Kevin, Amelie, and Janne. Services and Mass will be held at Our Mother of Sorrows church at Kolb & 29th, Monday, February 20th 2023 at 10:00 a.m. A funeral procession will follow to South Lawn Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Helene’s name to St. Jude Children’s Hospital.