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Helen C. Krienen, played piano and organ

June 28, 2013

Helen Cecilia (O’Brien) Krienen, 80, passed away peacefully surrounded by her loving family Thursday, June 27, 2013.

Helen was born Nov. 10, 1932, in Forty Acres in Wilmington. She was preceded in death by her mother, Helen S. (Mahoney) O’Brien. She was a graduate of St. Ann School and St. Elizabeth High School. During the 1950s, she was a patent secretary at Connolly, Cooch and Bove, and later worked in the City of Wilmington Law Department.

Helen was taught to play the piano by Sr. Hiltruda, OSF, when she was in third grade. She used this talent throughout her life, serving as organist at St. Ann, Corpus Christi and St. Jude churches, and at countless weddings and funerals throughout the Diocese of Wilmington.

Helen was preceded in death by her husband, William J. Krienen II, in 1993. They met while in high school and were married at St. Ann Church Jan. 14, 1956. She was a loving wife, mother and grandmother who found no greater joy than spending time with her family at her beach home in Lewes.

She is survived by her seven children and their spouses: William J. III and Mary Kay Krienen; Claire K. and John Reynolds; Therese K. and Michael Moore; Mary K. and Paul Ruoff; Ann K. Kane; Carl H. and Mary T. Krienen; and Patricia K. and Frederick H. Pfarrer IV. She is also survived by her 28 grandchildren: Maureen and William J. Krienen IV; Ann Bookout and husband Bryan; John Jr., Brigid, Liam and Patrick Reynolds; Michael Brennan, Kevin, Daniel and Kathleen Moore; Lauren, Colleen, Tara, Matthew, Meghan and Gracie Ruoff; Erin, Maggie, Michael, Mary Kate, Jack and Joe Kane; Thomas, Cecilia, James, John Paul and Daniel Krienen; and her great-granddaughter, Claire Bookout.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m., Monday, July 1, at Corpus Christi R.C. Church, 901 New Road, Elsmere. Visitation will take place from 3 to 7 p.m., Sunday, June 30, at Krienen Funeral Home, 1400 Kirkwood Highway, Wilmington. Interment will be at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Down Syndrome Association of Delaware, PO Box 747, Middletown, DE 19707 or the Kidney Transplant Fund at Christiana Care, MAP II, Suite 224, 4735 Ogletown-Stanton Road, Newark, DE 19713.

Arrangements by Krienen Funeral Home.

 

 

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