Mass of Christian Burial for Helen "Heddy" Laurenz, 90, of Eagle Butte, SD, is 10:00 AM, Tuesday, May 12, 2015, at All Saints Catholic Church in Eagle Butte. Burial will be in Eagle Butte Cemetery under the direction of Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge, SD. Visitation is Monday, May 11, 2015, at 6:00 PM, rosary at 7:00 PM, at the church. Helen passed away Monday, May 4, 2015, at Clarkson Health Care, Rapid City, SD.

Helen "Heddy" Francis Laurenz, 90, of Eagle Butte, SD, took her journey home on May 4, 2015. She was born to the late Frank and Lilian Carlin Briggs on March 25th 1925 by the Cheyenne River. Heddy grew up alongside her brother Melville "Mauvy" Briggs; and sisters Marcella "Tet" (Dwight) Souers; Marion "Min" (Hank) Laundreau; Flora "Florie"(Earl) Kensler; Catherine "Rene" (Clyde) Leake; Bessie "Bet" (Ernest) Smith; Margaret "Mick" (Gene) Dunn; Laura (Bob) Place and Eva (Ray) Severson.

Heddy began attending boarding school at the age of 5 at the Old Cheyenne River Agency. She told many stories of the fun times she had there with her sisters and lifelong friends. She remained at boarding school through the first couple years of high school and was Homecoming Queen. She finished high school in Eagle Butte, graduating from CEB in 1943.

Heddy fell in love with August Laurenz and on March 1st, 1945, they married in Vancouver, Washington. Augie and Heddy made their home farming in Eagle Butte, SD during the warm months and would travel to the west coast to work during the winter. Once they added ranching to the family business, Augie and Heddy decided to stay put and only traveled to the west coast for vacation.

They were blessed with six children, the late Sandy Laurenz of Tacoma, Wa; Lindy Sherwood of Rapid City, SD; Liz (Wes) Gibson of Thorpe, WA; Peggy (Dick) Gallipo of Eagle Butte, SD; Rob (Lana) Laurenz of Pierre, SD and Shane Laurenz of Eagle Butte, SD.

Heddy was no stranger to hard work. Aside from being a farming and ranching wife and all that entails, she had numerous jobs around town including working as a Teacher's Aid for Special Education at CEB School, at the downtown grocery store, Bakery and Ben Franklin. Augie would always joke that Heddy only had one speed. He would say, "Hurry up Hed!" and she would shrug her shoulders, hunch over and keep on going; not actually moving any faster.

The Laurenz household was open to whoever dared enter it. There were always extra kids at the house along with many visitors. Heddy's loving nature and witty personality led to a constant stream of visitors. She loved to cook and you could never stop by without her asking if you were hungry. You would then have something delicious set in front of you; regardless of your response.

Heddy and Augie enjoyed throwing card parties, singing, going to local dances and spending time with friends. Heddy was quite the talented organ player and there are many memories of friends and family gathered around the living room singing along to her music.

Heddy was very creative and loved learning new things. She could crochet; macramé and sew. One could always tell what craft she currently was into by the abundance of items pertaining to it. She went to a cake decorating class because she thought it would be fun; and that's all she wrote, the "Heddy Cake" was born.

Heddy has 22 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren. You could always count on grandma Heddy to give you love, comfort and food. The majority of the grandkids grew up sitting at her kitchen counter eating bowls of cake batter or getting a squirt of frosting in the mouth as they ran by while she was decorating a cake.

Heddy loved spending time with her family. The funniest; most memorable times were of her humor. She faced her hardships with a fierce dose of reality and humor that has been unparalleled. She taught us all to approach life seeing the humor in everything. This would result in somewhat inappropriate behavior by some standards to joke and laugh at the most serious of times. She would always say, "Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying." Her faith, wit and determination to overcome obstacles were inspirational. There are many funny stories to be shared but we would circle back around to the "inappropriateness" that was sometimes misunderstood by those outside her circle. She really did take the cake.

After her 3rd broken hip in June of 2014, Heddy spent the remainder of her days in Rapid City, SD at the Clarkson Health Care Center. She made many friends and memories during her stay.

As the last of her siblings to crossover, she was preceded in death by her parents; brothers and sisters; daughters Monica Christie and Sandra Laurenz; granddaughters Tory Briscoe; Ashley Sherwood; great-grandson Nicolas Gibson, husband August Laurenz and grandson Louie Gibson.