Helen Bernita Strand

Sept. 29, 1917 – July 25, 2015

Helen Bernita (Spitzer) Strand passed away on July 25, 2015 at the age of 97 at Martha & Mary Nursing Home in Poulsbo.

She was born on Sept. 29, 1917 to Louis and Rosa Spitzer on a farm in Burleigh County, near Baldwin, North Dakota. She attended school ther and also Bismarck High School.

She met her future husband, Leo Strand at a Hop Scotch Birthday Party. They were married on June 22, 1935 in Mandan, North Dakota. They lived in Bismarck until 1939, when they moved west to Missoula, Montana looking for work. Then in 1940, they once again packed up all their worldly goods in a trunk and two suitcases and moved to Poulsbo, settling in Big Valley. They raised their two children in the valley and in 1955, Leo built a new house in Poulsbo on 9th Avenue (formerly 6th Avenue) and she lived there until 2007.

Helen was a homemaker for most of her life. She enjoyed sewing, gardening, cooking and most of all, baking. She made the best cinnamon rolls in Kitsap County. In the summer she canned over 700 quarts of fruits, vegetables, pickles, jams and jellies. She worked for a short time for the Poulsbo rural telephone company, and also at the Idle Hour in Poulsbo.

Helen is survived by one son, Robert, of Poulsbo; a daughter, Ardys (Harold) Richardson, also of Poulsbo; four granddaughters, Greta (Brad) Johnson and Carol (Mike) Daniels of Poulsbo, Connie (Mike) Feikes of Bainbridge Island, and Gail Strand of Silverdale. She also leaves eight great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandson.

Helen was predeceased by her husband, mother and father, three sisters, three brothers, and one grandson.

Family burial will be at Miller-Woodlawn Cemetery in Bremerton. Memorial services are scheduled on Aug. 2, 2015 at Poulsbo First Lutheran Church, 18920 4th Ave. NE, Poulsbo. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Poulsbo First Lutheran Church.