Helene Louise Lenius Rebne Hood was born Dec. 9, 1910 to August and Frances (nee Ruzicka) Lenius, the sixth of nine children, in the Frazee area of Minnesota.
In 1932, she married Clarence C. Rebne and they made their home on a farm in southern Minnesota at Adams. They had three children, Maureen (Gordon) Wendt, Allyn (Pamela) Rebne and Arne (Elsie) Rebne.
In 1944, they moved to southeastern Wisconsin where she worked at various factory jobs, including Parker Pen in East Troy. In 1953, she and Clarence and son Arne, moved to Northbrook, Ill., where she worked at Kleinschmidt’s making teletypes.
In 1955, Clarence passed away. She was a widow for about nine years when she met Clifford Hood in 1964, who had two sons, Edward and Kenneth. They were married in 1965 at St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in East Troy.
They were caretakers at Happy Hollow Girl Scout Camp on Highway 120 for about seven years. They then made their home at the Wendt farm on Highway 120. After retirement, they traveled extensively, spending winters in Arizona and California with family and friends.
Helene and Cliff loved to dance and are remembered mostly for the fun they seemed to bring with them. They attended many family weddings, baptisms and gatherings, which helped to keep the family “tied” together.
Clifford passed away in 2003. Helene remained on the farm until 2011 when she went to Pine Crest Assisted Living in Lake Geneva. A heart attack sent her to Lakeland Hospital, where she passed away the next morning, Sept. 8, 2012 with her family at her side, at age 101 years and 9 months. Helene will be greatly missed by all family and friends.
Preceded in death are her parents, her five sisters and three brothers, husbands Clarence and Clifford, sons Allyn and Arne, grandson Shawn Hood, granddaughter Kimberly Hood, grandson-in-law Randy Jones.
She is survived by her daughter, Maureen (Gordon) Wendt; daughters-in-law, Pamela Rebne and Elsie Rebne; stepsons, Edward (Trudy) Hood and Kenneth Hood; sister-in-law, Eleanor (Chet) Lenius; grandchildren, Peter D. (Deborah) Wendt, Lance Wendt, Ardell (Robert) Ahorner, Shane Rebne, Tracy (Lance) Cromey, Korey Rebne, Deborah Jones, Jacqueline (Colin) Martin, Dawn (Kevin) Elder, Tiffany (Randy) Rogness, Nicole Hood, Brian Vyvyan, Darla Hood; numerous great-grandchildren, and many great-great-grandchildren.
