Helen Vessey, age 90, of Brookings, died Monday, June 11, 2012, at the United Living Community in Brookings. Memorial services will be 10:00 A.M. Friday, June 15, 2012, at the First United Methodist Church in Brookings. Visitations will be 5-7 P.M. Thursday, June 14, at Eidsness Funeral Home in Brookings. Helen Louise McConnell was born November 14, 1921, in East Lynn, Illinois, to Walter Alexander and Edith Waymouth (Luxton) McConnell. She grew up on a farm and graduated from East Lynn High School in 1939. She attended secretarial school in Danville, Illinois From 1944 to 1950 Helen was a secretary at the Chicago Temple Methodist Church. She met a young seminary student named Robert Vessey and sent him an anonymous valentine. It took nearly six months before he realized who had sent the card. The friendship turned to romance and eventually to a 61 year marriage beginning on June 16, 1950, in East Lynn, Illinois, until Robert's death February 20, 2012. Helen served God as a pastor's wife in Methodist Churches in Springfield, Illinois,(1950-1951), Belle Fourche, South Dakota,(1951-1956), Hurley, Viborg, and Davis, South Dakota,(1956-1957), Sioux Falls Asbury (1957-1964), and United Methodist Churches in Mitchell, South Dakota(1969-1974), Yankton, South Dakota,(1974-1983), and Spearfish, South Dakota, (1983-1987). The family lived in Huron, South Dakota, while Bob served as District Superintendent for the South Dakota Annual Conference of the Methodist Church from 1964-1969. Helen willingly volunteered her gifts and talents. She was a member of the hospital auxiliary in every town in which they lived. She enjoyed being around people of all ages. She held jobs in a nursing home in Mitchell, the hospital nursery in Spearfish, and she worked at Gurney's Seed Company in Yankton. She delivered Meals on Wheels, was a Cub Scout leader, 4-H Leader, and the first grade classroom helper. She volunteered in the church libraries in Brookings and Sioux Falls United Methodist Churches. She was an avid reader in the United Methodist Women's Reading Program and helped raise awareness of people in need. She belonged to PEO Chapter P in Brookings, she was active in TOPS most of her adult life. In addition to reading she enjoyed singing, gardening, baking, and visiting with anyone who needed a friend. She will be fondly remembered as honestly humble, authentically caring, and genuinely gracious. Grateful for having shared her life are her sons: Jon Vessey, of Fort Dodge, Iowa; David Vessey, of Waterloo, Wisconsin; her daughter, Mary (Lynn) Frederick, of Brookings; grandsons: Luke (Kate) Frederick and Ty Frederick; great-grandson, Jackson Scofield; sisters, Ruth McConnell and Sue Randall, of Torrance, California; and brother, Tom McConnell, of Hoopeston, Illinois. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Robert; and sister, Betty McConnell.