Funeral Services for Helen will be on Saturday, December 9, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Olaf Lutheran Church, Devils Lake with Reverend Lori Pankratz officiating. The burial will be in the Devils Lake Cemetery. The service will be live-streamed at facebook.com/stolafdevilslake.
Helen Gertrude Soma, born February 24, 1928, in Bowdon ND, daughter of and one of 8 children born to John and Lizzy (Sorenson) Soma. At age 3 the family moved to Glenfield ND where all 8 children graduated from Glenfield High School. The Soma kids when to school in a wagon pulled by horses and acted as a school bus picking up neighbor kids along the way. Helen was Valedictorian of the class of 1946. While in High School, Helen also earned her teaching certificate. Growing up on a farm meant always helping with the farm chores and just making your own entertainment.
Helen put her teaching certificate into practice, teaching for 3 years at country schools in Eddy and Ramsey Counties. She boarded with a couple who were parents of 2 of her students.
While in high school, Helen would meet the love of her life, Robert Weed at a sliding party at Art Kenner’s farm. They were united in marriage on October 6, 1949, at St. Olaf Lutheran Church. They made their home in rural Devils Lake, spending 65 years farming and raising children.
Besides being a devoted wife, loving mother and grandmother, Helen worked for several years at Mann’s Department Store and cooked at the Sales Ring in Devils Lake.
The coffee pot was always on along with daily baked goods to eat. Many good friends enjoyed the time spent at the table and visiting when Helen wasn’t cooking or taking meals to the field.
Helen spent many years as a member of the Grand Harbor Homemakers and was a member of St. Olaf Lutheran Church where she taught Sunday School and was very active in the WELCA. She was part of the Quilters Circle and was always ready to lend a helping hand to any project or event that came along.
Even though cooking was an everyday part of being a wife and mother, it was really something that Helen enjoyed. She was an excellent cook and baker. She created many quilts and was a talented artistic painter.
After Bob’s death on February 9, 2015, Helen continued to live on the farm for several years, then moved into Devils Lake but still maintaining her independence until her passing.
Though Helen may no longer walk beside us, her spirit will be with us always. Rest in peace.
Helen’s loving family include her children Ronald (Ellen) Weed of Ivins, Utah, Brenda (Michael) Gant of Dickenson, ND and Larry Weed of Devils Lake; six grandchildren Doreen Weed, Ron (Shelly) Weed, Valerie Engler (Chris), Anterious Gant, Demetruis Gant, and Dakota (Shaylynn) Gant; many precious great grandchildren and great grandchildren; beloved nieces, nephews and their families; special friends Connie and Armen Hanson, Paulette and Myron Bosch, Jen and Brenden Laugsand and sister-in-law Lois Hesch.
She was preceded in death by her husband Bob, granddaughter Shonea, great granddaughter Nevaeh and siblings Caroline Knutson, Edith Zeller, Esther H. Kenner, Mabel Zupanski, Edward Soma, Cora Diedrich and Alvin Soma.
A special thanks to the physicians and staff of Eventide Assisted Living and CHI Hospital for their loving care through the years.