Helga Refaie

Helga was born on October 24, 1936 to Charlotte and Walter in Berlin, Germany. She grew up in Berlin during World War II, surviving the hardships of war with her two younger sisters. After finishing school, she worked at Radio Free Europe, having worked briefly in both England and Sweden. Helga met a Harvard-educated Egyptian man, Mohamed Refaie, who worked at Siemens in West Berlin. In 1964 they married and had their first child, Nadja.

In 1966 the family of three sailed to New York for her husband’s job transfer. Mohamed’s next job transfer took the family to Kansas City, where Helga gave birth to her second daughter, Rasha, in 1968. The final job transfer took them to Orange County, California, where the family settled and where Helga and Mohamed remained for the rest of their lives.

A longtime resident of Irvine, Helga worked for The Irvine Company, where she was a valued colleague for over thirty years. After her husband passed away in 2019, Helga moved to Newport Beach in 2020. She cherished time spent abroad, local outings with friends, and holidays and visits with her family.

Helga was predeceased by her parents, Charlotte and Walter, her husband Mohamed, and her sisters, Sybille and Hannelore. She is survived by her daughters, Nadja and Rasha, her son-in-law Mario, her granddaughter Sabina, as well as many nieces and nephews, and many friends. She will be missed greatly.