Service Details
Services will be held in Draeger-Langendorf Funeral Home, 4600 County Line Road, on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Visitation will begin at 9AM with a memorial at 11AM with Father Mike Wolfe as celebrant. Interment will follow at Calvary Cemetery, 2510 Kinzie Ave., Racine.
Helen K. Suda, 82, passed away on Saturday, June 21, 2025. She was born in Brooklyn, New York on October 17, 1942 to two hardworking, first-generation Americans: the late John and Helen (nee: Wengatz) Kaeser. She grew up in Brooklyn and on Long Island, New York along with her beloved little sister, the late Doris M. Johnson. In 1966, she graduated from Marywood University and began her teaching career.
When federal legislation was passed to increase funding to train teachers of children with intellectual disabilities, Helen enrolled in the special education graduate program at Cardinal Stritch University. There she met the late George E. Suda, a fellow student. They graduated together and then married on August 7, 1971, at Notre Dame Church in New Hyde Park, New York.
After marrying, Helen established a home in Racine and continued teaching, joining Gateway Technical College in 1974. As a special needs instructor and disability services coordinator, Helen was an ally to many students and their families. She was a steadfast advocate for the disabled community and committed her professional life to protecting people with disabilities from discrimination as they pursued their education.
In her personal life, Helen raised two daughters: Jeanne Suda of Racine and Dr. Katie Suda (Christopher Bevel) of Pittsburgh, PA. She navigated the dilemmas of being a working mother with grace and good humor, making great efforts to ensure her family always had a beautifully kept home and home-cooked meals. All while making it possible for her children to be fully engaged in activities and adventures that opened the world to them.
She knew joy in retirement, keeping up with her friends and former colleagues through weekly and monthly breakfasts, shows, and other activities. She was a member of the Catholic Woman’s Club of Racine and regularly attended St. Paul the Apostle Parish’s Crafters. She loved the Racine community: visiting the lakefront and parks, Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, shopping downtown and eating out at local restaurants. She was a keen admirer of traditional arts and crafts like quilting and basketry, producing many beautiful baskets herself.
For more than fifty years she was a member of St. Paul the Apostle Parish where she taught children’s education classes, served on the council, mentored seminarians and fundraised. One of her last acts of service was selling tickets to their 2025 Lenten fish fry.
Helen’s daughters wish to express their deepest gratitude to their cousins, Dr. Valerie Dechant, Eileen P. Soukup and Samuel Orion Soukup, for their extraordinary generosity and devoted care during Helen’s illness. In recent years, Helen was also provided with another kind of care by her loyal chocolate Labrador Retriever, Rebel.
Helen lived her life following the Roman Catholic principle of service, honoring the inherent dignity of every human person and the call to serve those in need. To commemorate her retirement in 2005, her family and friends raised funds for an endowed scholarship with the Gateway Technical College Foundation. Those wishing to remember Helen are encouraged to contribute to the Helen K. Suda Scholarship at gtc.edu/foundation or Gateway Technical College Foundation, 3520 30th Ave., Kenosha, WI 53144-1690.
Services will be held in Draeger-Langendorf Funeral Home, 4600 County Line Road, on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Visitation will begin at 9AM with a memorial at 11AM with Father Mike Wolfe as celebrant. Interment will follow at Calvary Cemetery, 2510 Kinzie Ave., Racine.
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