Alicia Corrinne Helling

Alicia Corrinne Helling, 78, of Madelia and formerly of Hanska, passed away peacefully December 12, 2023 at Living Meadows in Madelia, surrounded by her family.

Visitation will be held Friday, January 12, 2024 from 4:00 -7:00pm, at Zion Lutheran Church in Hanska. Visitation will continue on Saturday from 10:00-11:00am at the church. A memorial service will be held Saturday, January 13, 2024 at 11:00am at Zion Lutheran Church in Hanska. A private family interment will take place at Linden Lutheran Cemetery at a later date.

A Celebration of Life for Alicia will be held on Saturday, May 18, 2024 at the Hanska Community Center in Hanska.  Alicia founded and organized the Syttende Mai celebration in Hanska for 30 years.  Please join us as we honor her with a Syttende Mai Celebration of Life.  More details to come.

Arrangements are with Sturm Funeral Home in Madelia. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.sturmfh.com.

Alicia was born March 5, 1945 to George and Rosella (Slettedahl) Hartke in Wood Lake, Minnesota. She was baptized and confirmed at St. John’s Lutheran Church.  She attended St. John’s Lutheran grade school, and graduated from Wood Lake High School in 1963. After high school, she went on to cosmetology school at Mendel Cain Beauty School in Minneapolis.  She owned and operated Alicia’s Beauty Salon in Hanska for 50 years.  On July 17, 1965 she was united in marriage to Walter Wilkening at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Wood Lake.  To this union, Laura and Lana were born.  This marriage later dissolved.  On March 5, 1977, Alicia was united in marriage to Franz Helling at Zion Lutheran Church in Hanska. To this union, Garrett and Gabrielle were born.  Together, they raised their four children in Hanska.

Alicia was an amazing wife, mother, and grandmother.  She was so proud of her children and grandchildren, and was their greatest cheerleader; she would not miss an opportunity to tell them how beautiful or handsome they were.  She enjoyed cooking and baking, and was famous for her lefse.  She made hundreds of pounds of lefse each year, and it was enjoyed by people all over the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin.  She loved to sew and was a very talented seamstress.  She would sew everything from matching outfits for her children when they were young, Halloween costumes, costumes used for the Syttende Mai productions, and beautiful wedding dresses and Norwegian Bunads.

Alicia loved life, and she loved to dance.  She had a smile, a conversation, and a hug for anyone and everyone she ever met.  She could get people to do things that they never thought they could do, enabling her to develop and grow the Syttende Mai productions over the years. She would not usually take “no” for an answer.  Alicia was very proud of her Norwegian heritage, and her community.  She danced with the Lin-Hans-Rud Norwegian folk dance group, and started the Jr. and Barne Lin-Hans-Rud dance groups, teaching all the children to dance.  She organized tour groups, travelling all across the county and the world.  She brought people Coast to Coast, to Florida and all over the Midwest, dancing at every stop along the way.  She also organized 2 tours to Norway, and brought in numerous tour groups from Norway to stay with host families in and around the Hanska area.  Alicia had an instrumental part of having a replica of a Norwegian Stabbur built, which now stands in the Hanska community park.  She also raised funds to have the water tower painted with a Norwegian Rosmaling design.  She would have a vision and would make it happen; a go-getter with a zest for life like no other.

The joys in Alicia’s life were her family, her friends, and her community.  She truly made where she lived a better place.

Alicia is survived by her husband, Franz; children, Laura (Justin) Heal, Lana (Paul Mack) Clark, Garrett (Michelle) Helling, and Gabrielle “Ellie” (Josh) French; grandchildren, Christopher, Carter, Cole, Ronan, Hunter, Lyla, Sawyer, Isabel, Hudson, Alexandra, and Harper; siblings, Gary (MerleAnn) Hartke and Ruth (Ken) Koch; and many nieces and nephews, relatives and friends.

Alicia was preceded in death by her parents; sister in infancy, Rosalie; sisters, Gloria Leighton and Linda (Robert) Bunn; nieces Barbara Leighton, and Angela Solomon.

Although she is deeply missed, the memories are cherished and will live on forever in our hearts.

Our family would like to extend a special thank you to the staff at Living Meadows for taking such wonderful care of Alicia, and also to the Mayo Hospice staff for helping us through her final days.