Individual Details

?? on the card for her mother Anna in the Hudson Area Bio Index, Helen is listed as Mrs. Bernard Van Ness which is penciled out and "d." written after it; Mrs. Thomas Kees is then penciled in above Van Ness' name ??



BIOGRAPHICAL:
Helen worked for Brown & Bigelow for 12 years; and worked for the Hudson
Elementary Schools for 16 years. She taught Sunday school and also was
a member of the church choir. She did much solo singing while a member of
the choir. Her talents include piano and organ playing, and interior
decorating.

HSO, 17 Jun 1971, p4, On Petticoat Lane
Mrs. Anna Jensen of Lakeland called this item to our attention after she saw a recent Petticoat Lane story about the marriage of dancer Bobby Burgress to the daughter of Myron Floren. (Floren plays the accordian on the Lawrence Welk Show.) The marriage took place in the Lutheran church Mrs. Thomas Cudd used to attend when she lived in California.
Mrs. Jensen can top that. Her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Thomas Kees (Helen Engstrom) is a cousin of the famous accordandist. Mrs. Kees' mother, Mrs. John B. Engstrom, was the former Anna Staberg, daufhter of Andew and Sigrid (Florin) Staberg.
That makes Mrs. Kees related to Floren through her grandmother. That also makes her brothers and sister, Raymond and Donald Engstrom and Mrs. Alice Engstrom Hoyer, cousins of Myron Florin.
Mrs. Kees exchanges Christmas cards with the Florens. Last year she received a picture of the whole family, including the daughter who was recently married.

DEATH: OBIT, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 6May1995

DEATH: OBIT, HSO, 11May1995
Helen L. Kees, 81, of Hudson, died Friday, May 5, at Hudson Medical Center's
swing bed unit, where she had been admitted two days earlier. She had been a
resident at the Christian Community Home since September 1992.
She was born in Hudson, April 29, 1914, the daughter of John and Anna
(Stayberg) Engstrom and attended Hudson High School, graduating with the class
of 1932.
For a number of years she was secretary/receptionist for the late Dr. Sherman
T. Stenberg, a Hudson physician in the early 1930's and 1940's.
Later, from 1948-1959, she was employed as a secretary at Brown & Bigelow in
St. Paul. In 1959 she joined the secretarial staff at the Rock Elementary
School in the Hudson School District.
She transferred in 1969 to the Fourth Street Elementary School (now Willow
River School), where she was employed until her retirement in 1975.
She was known as an excellent cook, took an interest in doing creative
decorating and enjoyed playing the piano and listeningto music.
She was a lifelong member of Bethel Lutheran Church and a member of its choir
for many years.
On May 7, 1949, in Stillwater she was married to Thomas W. Kees.
Surviving are her husband, Thomas; a brother, Raymond (Rosemary) Engstrom of
Newport, Minn.; and a sister, Alice E. (Hoyer) Christianson of Hudson.
Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by a sister, Signora
Margarette Engstrom (in 1909), and a brother, Donald J. Engstrom (in 1990).
Funeral services were at 2 p.m., Monday, May 8 at Bethel Lutheran Church,
with the Rev. Dennis Nelson officiating. Delores Willi was organist and
Margaret Speich, vocal soloist.
Burial was in Willow River Cemetery, where casketbearers were William
Engstrom, Gordon Hultgren, Leroy Jackman, Roger Trapp, Dag Selander and Ray
Wagoner.

Birth	29 Apr 1914	Hudson, St. Croix County, Wisconsin
Graduation	1932	Hudson High School - Hudson, St. Croix, Wis
Marriage	7 May 1949	Stillwater, Washington, Minnesota - Thomas W. Kees
Death	5 May 1995	Hudson, St. Croix County, Wisconsin
Burial	8 May 1995	Hudson, St. Croix County, Wisconsin, Willow River Cemetery

Spouse

Thomas W. Kees (1914 - 1997)

Father	John B. Engstrom (1873 - 1960)
Mother	Anna Staberg (1886 - 1948)
Sibling	Margaret Signora Engstrom (1904 - )
Sibling	Elmer William Engstrom (1905 - )
Sibling	Alice Elvira Engstrom (1910 - 1998)
Sibling	Donald James Engstrom (1918 - 1990)
Sibling	Raymond Arthur Engstrom (1920 - 1997)