Bobbette Jane Helmich

Bobbette, 80, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, August 14, 2024 in Scottsdale, AZ.
She was born in St. Louis, MO on January 29, 1944 to the late Lawrence and Dorothy (Voelker) Donna. Bobbette grew up in Collinsville, IL, graduated from Brenau Academy in Gainesville, GA, and attended the U. of Missouri. She married Gerry Helmich, whom she’d dated in high school, on June 7, 1964.
With Gerry, she raised two children: her daughter, Portland, and her son, Wade. Throughout her adult life, Bobbette lived in Indianapolis, IN, the St. Louis suburbs, Hilton Head Island, SC, Longwood and Tampa, FL, and Scottsdale and Flagstaff, AZ.
Though she worked briefly in real estate and retail, Bobbette was mostly a homemaker with a flair for design. Attractive and well-dressed, she knew what looked good, in clothing and in her home. One of her loveliest qualities was her curiosity about other people. Never one to talk at length about herself, she put the focus on others. Animated, playful, and social, she loved to laugh and could rarely sit still.
Her life changed drastically when she was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis at 57, shortly after she and Gerry retired to Scottsdale. As her balance worsened, she retreated to a wheelchair in her early 60s. She spent the remainder of her life there until she entered hospice in March of 2023, when she became bedbound.
If you asked Bobbette how she was, “pretty good” was a common answer. No matter how incapacitated she became, she didn’t complain. If you asked what she loved most about her life, she’d say being a Mom. She also relished the mornings, autumn, trees, babies, dogs, Broadway show tunes, jazz, classic movies, fine restaurants, and simply talking to people.
Bobbette was predeceased by her husband, Gerry, in May of 2024, and her older brother, Gerald Donna, in 2016. She’s survived by her children, Portland Helmich, of Concord, MA and Wade Helmich, of Seattle, WA; her sister-in-law, Janice Donna, and nieces, Marlo Oswald and Mindy Wetmore, of Kansas City, MO; and her sibling-in-law, Terry Helmich, and niece, Christine Whitley, of Ft. Collins, CO. She’s also survived by Catrina Franklin, her beloved caregiver of more than 10 years, who loved her like a mother and became her best friend.
It was Bobbette’s desire that she be cremated. Her ashes will be scattered with her husband’s on Hilton Head Island, SC, where she lived and vacationed with her family. A memorial of her life will be held in her honor at a later date.