Helen Harms 1928-2026
Helen Jean Kopp Harms, 97, died at home at John Knox Village in Lee’s Summit, Mo., on Wednesday, April 22, 2026.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, May 1 at Wayne Zion Lutheran Church, rural Monticello, Iowa. Visitation will be held from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. prior to service. Burial will be held at Oakwood Cemetery in Monticello following the service.
There will be a memorial service at John Knox Village in Lee’s Summit at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 9 at the Meadows Community Center, 1800 N.W. O’Brien Rd. The family requests you wear bright colors to her services.
Helen was born Sept. 12, 1928, to Robert and Ruby (Arnold) Kopp in Holton. She attended Holton schools for 11 years until moving with her parents to Monticello, Iowa, where she graduated in 1946. She then attended Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls, Iowa, obtaining her teaching certificate. She taught in Iowa Falls, Jones County rural schools and Monticello public schools. In 1965, she earned her BA from University of Iowa.
She met Milton Harms in 1949 and they married a short time later in 1950. They had one daughter. Helen then stopped teaching full-time and devoted her time to being a full-time mother, farm wife and substitute teacher. She became church treasurer for two terms at Wayne Zion. Upon the death of her husband in 2000, she moved to Lee’s Summit, Mo., to be near her daughter’s family. She enjoyed watching the grandchildren grow up and rarely missed an activity of theirs.
She was an avid knitter (knitting more than 25 Christmas stockings and numerous baby and wedding afghans for family and friends) and seamstress (sewing many of the family’s outfits, baby clothes and doll clothes). She later learned to quilt and became leader of the quilt group at John Knox village for 24 years. Other hobbies include jigsaw and crossword puzzles, reading, playing bridge and many other games. She was a 75-year member of Eastern Star.
She is survived by a daughter, Kathy (Eric) Frostestad; grandchildren, Kristofer Frostestad, Ethan (Aly) Frostestad and Kalyn (Corbin) Elliott; and many close extended family and friends. She was very excited about the upcoming arrival of her first great-grandchild to Ethan and Aly in October.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Milton; her parents, Robert and Ruby Kopp; mother and father-in-law, Minnie and Heine Harms; sister-in-law, Evelyn Harms Dierks Pickerell; brothers-in-law Lawrence Dierks and Ralph Pickerell; and other close extended family.
Memorials may be made to Camp EWALU, Wayne Zion Church, Woods Chapel Church, Camp Courageous or John Knox Auxiliary for new ambulance facilities.
(PAID OBITUARY)
