Helen Biedron

Helen Casmerine Biedron, age 94, passed away on Tuesday, October 22, 2013, at Fountain View Care Center in Ripon, Wis.

She was born to Polish immigrants, Joseph and Stanislowa Wroblewski, in West Allis, Wis. where she graduated from West Allis High School. She held several jobs, beginning as a seamstress for a fine tailor in metropolitan Milwaukee, later as a component assembler at Square D Company and a clerical worker at Allis Chalmers Manufacturing Company. During WWII, she was employed by the US Office of Transportation in Newark, N.J.

Helen was artistically talented, and encouraged by high school art teachers to pursue study at art schools. In the throes of the Depression, family financial support was limited so she had no formal art training until her participation at the Art Center in Zanesville Ohio after the War. In 1957 she and her husband, Edward Biedron, moved to Ripon, where she joined the Community Art Center in 1958 and enjoyed the camaraderie and work of fellow artists and friends. She continued her development as an artist auditing classes in the art department at Ripon College, working in charcoal, crayon, pastels, oils, acrylics and pottery. Her proudest achievement outside of raising her children was sharing her lifetime of artwork with a crowd of art enthusiasts at a one-woman show at Ripon College.

Meantime, Helen was a dedicated homemaker and mother of three. Her cooking, particularly hand made apple, pumpkin, and rhubarb pies, inspired all her children and grandchildren to be avid cooks.

Helen’s warm lovely smile was a constant contribution to the Ripon community. She belonged to a bridge club and the Women’s Study Club, was a Ripon voting poll worker and a 17-year volunteer at Ripon Hospital.

Ed and Helen enjoyed singing together, right up until her last days, the popular melodies of the 1920’s through the 60’s such as “Sentimental Journey” and “Bill Baily Won’t You Please Come Home.” She sang with a clear soprano voice in the choirs of the church where she was married, St. Mary’s Polish National Catholic Church in West Allis, and the First Congregational Church of Ripon.

After a lifetime of making the world more beautiful with fine art, singing, sewing, cooking, and her smile, she will be greatly missed.

Survivors include her husband of 71 years, Edward Biedron of Ripon; two daughters, Janice (Delos) Lutton of Mequon, Wis. and Diane (Thomas) Cramer of Erin, Wis.; five grandchildren, Josh Lutton, Lindsay Sterling, Kate, Jane and Ed Cramer; four great-grandchildren and her 98 year old sister, Irene Zielinski of West Allis, Wis. Helen was preceded in death by her parents; son, Robert Biedron, in 2005; sister, Sylvia Poslaiko in 1983; and brother, Edward Wroblewski in 2002.

A Memorial Service will be held at the First Congregational Church of Ripon on Saturday, Dec. 14th at 11:30 a.m., 220 Ransom Street, Ripon, WI 54971. Reception and lunch will follow the service. Gifts in memory of Helen can be sent to the First Congregational Church of Ripon (mailed to the address above), or to the Ripon College Art Department (mailed to Ripon College, Office of Advancement, P.O. Box 248, Ripon, WI 54971).


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