Helen Glander

HELEN MARIE McLAUGHLIN GLANDER, age 90, passed away due to congestive heart failure on February 17, 2010, at Tacoma General Hospital in Tacoma, Washington. Helen was born February 3, 1920, on Belvidere Street on Detroit's East Side to Edward and Stella Kinna McLaughlin. She attended Pingree Elementary and Barbour Jr. High and graduated from Southeastern High School. Some of the happiest times of Helen's life were the childhood summers she spent on her Grandfather and Grandmother Kinna's farm on the shore of Lake Huron in Forester Township, Sanilac County. It was during her nineteenth summer there that she met her husband-to-be, Edwin Glander, whose family owned property with tourist cabins down the road from her grandparents' farm. Helen and Eddie were married in 1943 in South Carolina, where he was stationed with the Army-Air Corps. After WWII, they returned to Detroit, where they resided on Wayburn from 1947 until a 1978 move to Macomb Township. During the 1940s and 1950s, Helen enjoyed working in the credit department at the downtown J.L. Hudson Company department store. After Eddie's death, she returned to work at age 65 and enjoyed employment with Kmart, Meijer, and Kroger, where she took pride in having worked until the age of 86. In 2008, Helen moved to the state of Washington to be near her only child, Barbara, and her family. Helen was active until the end of her life, enjoying family get-togethers and daily excursions with her daughter and grandchildren. During her lifetime, Helen was a loving daughter, wife and mother; an excellent student; a strong swimmer; and a hard worker, who always strove to do her best. She was an avid reader, enjoyed gardening and canning tomatoes, loved animals and always managed to maintain her sense of humor. She was preceded in death by her husband, Edwin W. Glander, and by her half-brother, Jack W. Murray of Ft. Worth, Texas. She is survived by her daughter, Barbara J. Todd, and son-in-law, John D. Todd, of Spanaway, WA; three grandchildren, who all took excellent care of their grandmother during her final illness: Diana L. Tinley Richard of Puyallup, WA; Marilyn K. Clarence John of Graham, WA; and Michael D. Todd Tonya of Tacoma, WA; and great-grandchildren: Brianna Brown, Bryan Todd, Johnny Clarence, Michael Clarence, Claire Todd and step-great-granddaughter Audrey Collen. Helen was laid to rest March 1, 2010, at Forester Cemetery in Sanilac County.