Helen Margarete Brereton

Helen was born to Henry and Suzanna (Friesen) Janzen in Gem, Alberta. She was the youngest of 6 children in which 4 siblings were predeceased. Helen was born at home and this was during a very cold winter so they had to move her crib into the kitchen so she could stay warm by the stove.

When Helen was 6 years old her family moved to Greendale, BC (Chilliwack area). Then around the age of 16 her and a friend moved to Vancouver to enjoy the “city life” and worked at various jobs. While in Vancouver she met Bill who was a “city guy” (motorcycle and all) and had a great group of friends who enjoyed road trips, hiking and camping. One day a friend said “you two should get married so we can have a party” so that’s what they did. They drove to Bellingham, US and got married on Oct 29, 1954– Helen always liked to tell the story “it was a foggy Friday the night we got married” In 2021 they celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary.

Bill always dreamed of living in the country on property so in 1961 they bought acreage and an old house in Langley, BC which meant Helen was back in the country again. There they built a log home and enjoyed their lives together. Helen started working at the Langley School District and later was a secretary for the French Dept. until her retirement in 1991.

Helen enjoyed spending time with family and friends, going to the theatres (small local productions or Vancouver), she was an amazing cook, loved to read and played crib with Bill almost every day. She is survived by husband Bill and daughter Melinda (Mike) and grandchildren Stephen (Karina) and Michelle who will all miss her dearly. Bill and Helen also had two sons Tyler and Paul who were predeceased.