Helen Dittus, 92, Minot, formerly of Garrison, died on Monday, May 7, 2018 at Trinity Hospital in Minot after a brief illness. She went to her heavenly home while surrounded by her loving family. Funeral services will be held on Friday at 10:30 am at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Garrison. A rosary and vigil will be held on Thursday at 7:00 pm at the church. Burial will be at the church cemetery.
Helen Ada Retterath was born November 29, 1925 to Joe and Effie (Clark) Retterath on a farm in rural Douglas. She attended school in Garrison and graduated from Garrison High School.
Helen married John Dittus in 1947. They lived in Great Falls, MT where two of their children, Kathleen and Jeff, were born. In 1953 they moved to Minot, where the last addition, Joe, was born. They lived in Minot for many years, working and raising and educating their family in the Catholic Church. While living in Minot, Helen worked several jobs and often called herself "the jack of all trades".
In 1994, John and Helen moved to Bismarck and resided there until 1996 when John retired. Upon retirement, they moved to the lake cabin in Garrison where they lived until John's death in 2000. In 2001, Helen moved to Minot to be closer to her family. In 2011, she moved to White Bear Lake, MN to live with her daughter. After a fall in 2016, Helen moved to the Benedictine Living Center in Garrison to live with her 2 sisters, Fern and Iveas, and her brother, Bob, while she recovered.
In 2017, her daughter Kathy relocated to Minot so she could bring Helen home to live with her, where she resided until the time of her death.
Helen enjoyed spending time at the lake, gardening, and teaching her family to play "King's in the Corner" and Rummikub. She was highly competitive and never allowed anyone any slack, even her grandkids! She was extremely passionate about strawberries and she had her whole house completely decorated with them. Helen also had a favorite pet companion, Tayah, as well as several pet parakeets that she would train to give kisses and do tricks.
Helen will be forever loved and missed dearly by all of her many family and friends.
Helen is survived by her daughter, Kathleen Kesselring; son, Joe Dittus; 5 grandchildren, Brad (Dee) Kesselring, Heather (Kelly) Hummel, Brittany (Brandon) Valdez, Andrew Dittus (Fiancee' Toni Dillon), and Amber (Ethan) Worthington; great grandchildren, Kole and Beau Klatt, Carson and Hailee Valdez, Jaelyn Cooley and great grandchild #7, baby Dittus, and Audrey Worthington; brother, Bob Retterath, sister, Iveas Carlson; Mary Dittus (mother of Brittany Valdez and Andrew Dittus); brother-in-law, William Hedin; and numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, John, son, Jeff, great grandson, Victor Kesselring, parents, sisters and brothers-in-law, Marion (Leonard) Kastner, Bernice Kastner, Inez Hedin, and Fern (Ed) Wretling, and sister-in-law, Phyllis Retterath.