Helen F Parkinson

Helen Franks Parkinson, 83, of Venice, Florida, passed away peacefully on Sunday, February 27, 2011, after a brief illness. Born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, she was the daughter of the late Jacob Oscar Franks and Laura Prinkey Franks and was the youngest of eight children.

She was a 1945 graduate of McKeesport High School and a 1977 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, Greensburg Campus. She retired from Westinghouse Electric Corporation in 1990 after 35 years of service. She worked at the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in West Mifflin, PA and then the Astronuclear Laboratory in Large, PA, before being transferred to work on the WIPP Project as Manager of Accounting in Albuquerque and then Carlsbad, New Mexico. She was transferred to the West Valley location in New York as Manager of Finance prior to her retirement.

After retirement, Helen moved to Venice, Florida, where she has been active in her church, Grace United Methodist Church. She volunteered as an usher at Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota for several years. She also had worked at H&R Block, and the Neilson Corporation in Venice.

She was a Past Worthy Matron of the Order of the Eastern Star, Clairton Chapter #316 (Clairton, PA) from 1966-67.

Helen enjoyed playing scrabble, working crossword puzzles and was an avid reader. She also enjoyed swimming at Venice Gardens, playing dominos, eating out and going to the movies with her close circle of friends from Venice and Englewood. She had a wonderful sense of humor and was a source of inspiration and strength to her children and grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by infant daughter Linda Gail Parkinson, sisters Thelma Steuve, Mildred Maines, June Guiser McDonald, Hilda Tomko and Lulu Kelly, brothers Walter O. Franks and Buster Franks, and great-granddaughter Tatiana Parkinson.

She is survived by daughters Susan P. Lukacs (John) of Aliquippa, PA, Judith A. Kettering (Christopher) of North Huntingdon, PA, and son Gerald D. Parkinson (Steve) of Cathedral City, CA. She is also survived by five grandchildren, Sara K. Parkinson, John A. Lukacs IV (Sarah), Mathew W. Lukacs (May), Lyle W. Kettering (Natasha), and Randall C. Kettering, and four great-grandchildren, Anthony Parkinson, Heather Lukacs, John Lukacs, and William Lukacs.

There will be a memorial service for Helen at Grace United Methodist Church, 400 Field Avenue East, Venice, FLorida, on Friday, March 4, 2011 at 11AM, in the chapel, with Pastor Tom Darrough presiding. A memorial service will be held in Pittsburgh at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Helen’s memory to: American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, 15120 Collections Center Drive, (15120=lbx#), Chicago, Illinois, 60693

Arrangements under the direction of National Cremation & Burial Society, Sarasota, FL.