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  • Helen Wollenweber talks about how she helped start the agency that is now ADEC. Roger Schneider | The Goshen News

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August 31, 2010

Nearly 90, volunteer still does for others

Birthday party set for ADEC helper Helen Wollenweber

By NANCY BOUNDS Special to The Goshen News

Helen Wollenweber, 89, lives daily the advice she offers to younger generations: “Do for others.”

Even at her age, when she could put her feet up and take it easy, she instead puts in several hours of volunteer work each week for ADEC, where she is a founding member for her church, Trinity United Methodist, and the Elkhart General Hospital Meals on Wheels program. A retired teacher, she has spent a lifetime helping others and sees no reason to stop now.

“It’s just a part of my life,” Helen said. “I still can, so I do.”

To honor Helen, ADEC will host a 90th birthday celebration Open House from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday Sept. 2 at the Administration Building, 19670 State Road 120, Bristol. Friends and former students are invited to stop by, say hello and wish her a happy birthday. She will turn 90 on Sept. 5.

Helen was only 26 when she moved to Elkhart from her hometown of DeKalb. Ill. in 1946. Her husband, William, had accepted a job as director of buildings and grounds for the Elkhart Community Schools.  When the school superintendent learned Helen had taught five years in Illinois, he offered her a job, too, teaching first grade at Lincoln School. She wasn’t looking for a job, but she accepted the one he offered, teaching at Lincoln for two years before devoting herself to full-time homemaking.  

Their son Gary was born in 1951, and Mark followed in 1956. At birth, Mark showed the distinct signs of Down syndrome — high forehead, almond-shaped eyes, a creased palm — and his parents were advised, as was typical of the time, to place him in an institution. “He’s our son,” Helen responded.  “We’re taking him home.”

In her new role as “Mark’s mom,” Helen began advocating for children with disabilities, joining other parents in the Council for the Retarded of Elkhart County. By the time Mark turned 5 and was ready to start school, the group had changed its name to Aux Chandelles and started a campaign to build a school building.

In 1962, William died suddenly from a heart attack and Helen found herself in the unexpected role of single mother with two young boys.  She returned to teaching in 1966, this time in the preschool at Trinity United Methodist Church.

For the next 39 years she taught 3- and 4-year-olds everything they needed to know before kindergarten, laying the foundation for their elementary education.

She was one of the first teachers in Elkhart to include children with disabilities in a regular class, becoming a pioneer in inclusion before the word was even coined. She did not retire from teaching until she was 85.

Over the years, Helen has impacted the lives of thousands of Elkhart children, sometimes teaching the children and even grandchildren of former students. She also continued her involvement with Aux Chandelles, which became ADEC in 1976, including serving two terms on ADEC’s board of directors.

Of her own two children, Mark graduated in 1974 from Horizon Learning Center, the school Aux Chandelles built, and went to work for ADEC Industries the year it opened as a vocational program for the developmentally disabled. He died in 2005 at the age of 48. Gary, now an engineer, holds degrees from Wabash College and Purdue University. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with his wife, Cynthia.

Helen did not retire from teaching until she was 85. She has no plans to retire from her volunteer service.

“Doing for others is the most important thing,” she said.

So twice a month on Tuesdays, she delivers meals to the homebound.

And each week on Thursdays, just as she has for more than 20 years, she reports to ADEC’s administration building to help with mailings and other clerical tasks.

“It’s part of my life,” she said. “Thursdays are just ADEC.”

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