Helen Sullivan Tierney

Helen was born in Chicago, Illinois on October 17, 1913. She was the oldest of five children, two of whom died in childhood. Her early pictures show a waif of a young girl with great big brown eyes. She was quite ill at birth, but her health rebounded in short order. She was named Helen after her mother. Chicago was a big city, too big in fact for her father, Frank Sullivan, who convinced his wife to move to the farmlands of North Dakota. The farm was isolating and hard, and after many years the family moved to South St. Paul where Helen grew up into a lovely young woman. It was early on in the war effort that Helen decided to take the train to San Diego where her Uncle Jack had told her that jobs could be had in the factories. She took a job as a secretary at Conair working in a high office overlooking the factory floor. These were the days of smart looking suits and high heeled spectator pumps for Helen. Her favorite activity outside of work was going to dances with her girlfriends It was at a dance at the Little Club in San Diego that she met the handsome Marine, Robert Tierney. After first refusing to give him her phone number, she changed her mind and ran down the stairs with the phone number in hand to give to the young marine before he shipped out to the South Pacific. They were married upon his return from the war on December 8, 1945 after Bob finished recuperating from a war injury. They moved to Alliance, Nebraska where Bob took a job as a dispatcher with the Burlington Northern Railroad. Daughter Cathy and son Michael were born in Alliance. In 1951, the family relocated to Denver, where Bob became a student at the University of Denver, living in Quonset huts which served as student housing. Son Thomas and daughter Karen were born during this time. In 1954 they moved to Lakewood, Colorado raising their four young children. She was active as a PTA room mother baking cookies and cupcakes for the classrooms. Her life's passion was raising her four children, greeting them with home baked cookies after school and serving their favorite dinners which included pork roasts in the winter, fried chicken in the summer and of course her world famous apple pie. Because she never obtained a Colorado Driver's license, she walked everywhere and was often seen with all four kids in tow, walking to mass at St. Bernadette's no matter the weather. For many years she was active in the Altar and Rosary Society and the Arts and Crafts group. Once her eyesight kept her from sewing, she became the coffee maker for the group. In 1983, her husband Bob passed away. She valued her independence and insisted upon living alone in her house on Yukon Street where she planted flowers and enjoyed her growing family. Grandchildren Monica and Justinian, Briana and Julianne, and Toby were the highlights of her life. Great grand children Tiernan and Caidan continued to keep her young with their antics. In the last few years of her life, the days were filled with walks around Belmar Park, making trips to the coffee bar with Colby, eating pancake breakfasts at the farmer's market, and watching the finches from her favorite perch on the deck. She was always the life of any party, especially when she would create the perfect picture by putting on a hat, and hamming it up for the camera. Helen charmed all who met her with her quick Irish wit, and was loved dearly by her family and circle of friends. She died peacefully and went to the Lord surrounded by her family and friends on January 27, 2009. May the road rise to meet you May the wind be always at your back The sun shine warm upon your face The rain fall soft upon your fields And until we meet again May God hold you in the hollow of His hand