Helga Thomas Thomas Keller

Helga Thomas Keller, age 67, of Bloomington, Indiana, died on January 29, 2011, at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. Her death was due to a sudden, devastating, and rare complication from open heart surgery, in the middle of a strong, optimistic, and “textbook” recovery. The surgery was performed on January 7, 2011 in Bloomington.

Helga was born in Hübitz, Germany, on December 23, 1943. From an early age she was fascinated by foreign cultures, and by stories of America in particular. Her first job was as a member of the Diplomatic Corps of the Auswärtige Amt (Foreign Ministry) of the Federal Republic of Germany, in Bonn.

Her first foreign assignment was with the German Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria. She met her future husband, Howard H. Keller, in Sofia, where Professor Keller was spending a year on the faculty of the Sofia State University in Bulgaria. They were married on October 4, 1969, in Ittenbach, Germany. They moved to America soon afterwards and lived in Murray, Kentucky, for 13 years before moving to Bloomington.

Helga has worked with Douglas Hofstadter as the administrator for Center for Research on Concepts and Cognition since 1988. She took great pride in her work at the Center and also in being a mentor to the many graduate students who passed through its doors.

Helga was an enthusiastic member of the Canterbury Fellowship at the Trinity Episcopal Church, and served as board member for eight years.

Helga was actively involved in the arts in Bloomington. She served as a docent at the IU Art Museum from 1995 and served on the National Docent Symposium Council from 1997. The highlight of this involvement was co-authoring the in-depth docent guide, The Docent Handbook, in 2001. The Handbook is currently being used by museums across the country. Her greatest enthusiasm was her most recent position as a docent Lilly Library for Rare Books at Indiana.University. Helga was a passionate supporter of the arts and was a constant presence at art openings, lectures, concerts, and cultural events.

Helga travelled extensively with her husband Howard over the years. Early travels included visiting Howard for one week in Saigon, Vietnam (April, 1970), during Howard’s eight-month assignment as staff officer at MACV, U S Army, Saigon. On one of their many trips to Europe, Helga and Howard made an extensive visit to Moscow and Leningrad in 1971, the midst of the intensive Nixon-Kissinger bombings of Hanoi and Haiphong. Helga and Howard travelled widely through Europe during their many family visits over the years to Ittenbach. Some of their favorite stops were in Italy: Rome, Siena, Florence and especially Sorrento. Paris was close to Helga’s second home in Ittenbach, and she especially loved their visits to the great French cathedrals of Laon, Rheims, and Chartres.

Helga and Howard enjoyed sailing on their family sailboat Duster, first on Kentucky Lake until 1983, and then on Lake Monroe until now, as members of the LMSA.

Helga will be greatly missed for her compassion and generosity, her deep love of nature, and most of all for the love she showed to her family, especially to her beloved grandchildren. It brought her great joy to take them on long walks in Bloomington and Munster, rain or shine, and for hikes in the Indiana Dunes. She especially loved taking her grandson Nicholas to the museums in Chicago. Helga loved her engaging conversations with her young grandson and stimulating his curiosity. Omi Helga’s impact on her family was tremendous and she will be deeply missed.

Helga is survived by her husband, Howard H. Keller of Bloomington; her daughter Christiane Keller Rucinski and son-in-law Brian T. Rucinski and her two grandchildren Nicholas and Alexandra of Munster, Indiana; and her brother Rainer Thomas of Cologne, Germany. She was preceded in death by her mother Christel Thomas, of Ittenbach, Germany.

The Burial Office and Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, February 12th, at 12:00 at Trinity Episcopal Church, with the Rev. Dr. Linda C. Johnson officiating. Following the service, a reception will be held in the Great Hall, with remembrances. A memorial fund has been set up at the Lilly Library of Rare Books. Contributions may be made to "Lilly Library, Indiana University Foundation" with "Helga Keller Memorial Fund" written on the memo line. Please send to The Lilly Library, 1200 E. 7th St, Bloomington, IN 47405

Day Funeral Home in Bloomington is in charge of arrangements.