Helen K. Rice, nee Kalman, died Feb. 13 of lymphoma. She was 89.
She was born in Chicago, one of three children of parents who had emigrated from Hungary. She graduated from Tuley High School in 1928, and later obtained a college degree from Northeastern University in 1980. She married David Rice in 1939; he died in 1951.
She worked as director of personnel for the Chicago regional office of the then-U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. In 1998, she moved to St. John’s Tower Apartments in Milwaukee and eventually served as president of its Residents Council.
In Chicago, she belonged to the North Park Service Club, a philanthropic organization. In Milwaukee, she participated in Forever Friends, an intergenerational mentoring program, and was featured in a recent PBS special about the program.
According to her family, she wrote stories, reminiscences and some poetry. She also was an “expert Scrabble player,” an avid reader, a lifelong lover of the theater and “was becoming a competent computer student.”
She is survived by daughter Maureen (Martin) Rosenblum of Milwaukee; and two granddaughters.
After a funeral service in Milwaukee on Feb. 16, burial was in Chicago on Feb. 17.
Memorial contributions to the National Organization for Women, P.O. Box 1848, Merrifield, VA 22116-8048, would be appreciated by the family.
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