Helen Rose Mildenberger Setser

Helen Mildenberger Setser, 95

Our sweet Catholic mom, Helen Mildenberger Setser, passed away on September 24, 2024. 

Helen Rose Steinbach was born in Schoenshen, Kansas on November 8, 1928, to Alexander and Rose Steinbach. Helen grew up in meager circumstances working long hours on the family farm and received her education in Platteville, Colorado.

Helen married John J Mildenberger on September 18, 1949, in Platteville, Colorado and they were blessed to have seven children. Helen was a housewife and mother for many years and started working outside the home in 1976 after her husband, John, passed away. Helen met Roy Setser at Platte Valley Medical Center where she worked in Environmental Health and they were married in Brighton, Colorado in June 1982, and remained married till his passing. After retiring from PVMC she worked for School District 27J in Food Services as a “lunch lady,” retiring at the age of 72.

Helen was very involved in and loved St. Augustine Catholic Church. She devoted many years preparing the altar, spending hours washing and ironing the altar cloths and the priest’s vestments and decorating the altar during Holy days. She liked embroidering and made seven-days-of-the-week tea towels for each of her children and grandchildren as wedding gifts. Helen was an accomplished seamstress and sewed all of her daughters’ clothing when they were young. She enjoyed cooking meals for her family, and her dishes were sought out during potluck dinners; and she enjoyed flowers and gardening. Many of her children’s friends called her mom. Helen truly loved her family and attended all her children’s and grandchildren’s weddings. She loved hosting family gatherings well into her 90’s.

Helen is survived by her sons Ron (Caren) Mildenberger and Jim (Diane) Mildenberger; daughters Terri (John) McClure and Lauralee (Steve) O’Grady; daughter-in-law Jill Mildenberger and son-in-law John (Sherri) Frazier, along with twenty-four grandchildren, twenty-eight great-grandchildren, six Blessed to Have great-grandchildren, two great-great-grandchildren with one on the way, and numerous nieces and nephews. She is also survived by three siblings Rosy Peters, Dorothy Amerin, and Raymond Steinbach.

She is proceeded in death by her two husbands, John J Mildenberger and Roy C Setser; sons Larry (Garnet) Mildenberger and David Mildenberger, and daughter Sharon Frazier; two great-grandchildren, Clara and Kash; and three siblings, Barbara, Julia, Johnny, and Mary.

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