Helen Vanous

Helen Miller (Jenner) Vanous, 95, from Mandan, ND, went to be with her Lord on December 29, 2018.

Services will be held at 11:00 am Friday, January 4, at First Lutheran Church, 408 9th Street NW, Mandan, with Rev. Lee Herberg officiating.

Visitation will be from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm Thursday, January 3, at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck.

Burial will be at Sunset Memorial Gardens, Bismarck.

Helen was born the sixth of eight children to Christian and Christina (Fauser) Miller at Napoleon, ND. She was raised and educated northeast of Driscoll. Helen helped her family with farming duties until 1946, when she moved to Bismarck. She married Tyruss Jenner in 1948. To that union three children were born, Sharon, Maynard and Arlys. Tyruss passed away in 1965. Helen married Elwyn Vanous in 1969 and helped raise five step children. They lived in Bismarck until 1979 when Elwyn would retire and they would move to Steele and then Tuttle. Elwyn passed away in 2011.

Helen was very active: A life member of the American Legion Auxiliary, the Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary, the VFW Auxiliary, and the Dakota West Chapter of the American Ex-POW’s where she held many offices in all. It kept her busy with District and State conventions. As poppy chairman she could always be found selling poppies for all of her organizations and was so proud of the many poppy related items that she made, coming home with a ribbon every year. She was currently a member of First Lutheran Church in Mandan. Helen enjoyed her grandchildren and great grandchildren and was proud of her German heritage. She made many tasty dishes and everyone looked forward to her potatoes and dumplings.

Helen worked in the restaurant business as a waitress and cook. She worked as a housekeeper for many years at the Lone Steer in Steele and evening visitation assistant for Eastgate Funeral Service in Steele. She would eventually retire but kept busy with her gardening, quilting and craftwork, square dancing, camping and fishing. After moving to Mandan in 2010, she enjoyed playing pinochle every morning with her friends at Liberty Heights and volunteered for RSVP through Sanford Health as activities aide. She was often referred to as the Energizer Bunny and never slowed down.

She is survived by her daughter, Arlys Jenner; son-in-law, Les Merkel; stepsons, Laurie (Phyllis) Vanous and Tracy (Cindy) Vanous; stepdaughter, Mercedes (Roger) Clark; and daughter-in-law, Diana Vanous; fourteen grandchildren and many great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Tyruss Jenner; her husband, Elwyn Vanous; her daughter, Sharon Merkel; her son, Maynard Jenner; two stepsons, Craig and Naylor Vanous; her parents; four brothers, Jacob, Carl, Jonathon and Elmer Miller; and three sisters, Esther Werre, Alice Aichele and Viola Reile.