Helga Rose Jaksich

Helga Rose Jaksich, a loving wife, mother and "Oma" to her two grandchildren, passed away surrounded by her family on September 18, 2021 after a brave battle with post COVID-19 complications, which she endured and fought bravely. She was 60 years old.

Helga Jaksich (McFarland) was born on March 27, 1961 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina to German and Irish-American parents, Herman McFarland and Helga McFarland. She carried the loving namesake of her mother, who emigrated to America from Germany during WWII. She was the second youngest of six children including Ute, Mary, Rosemary, David and Danny who were raised in Ballard, Washington.

This year, Helga and Dan celebrated 41 years of marriage, marrying on May 25, 1980 at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Seattle - a few days following the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. They renewed their wedding vows 25 years later in the same church, a celebration organized by their children.

In 1982, they gave birth to their daughter Natasha, and Irish twins Nicholas (Nick) and Nichole in 1985. After residing in West Seattle for a number of years, the family moved to Renton, where they resided for the remainder of Helga's life.

Family and her children meant everything to Helga. She coined the phrase "Keep 5 Faith" which became their family motto. She kept old fashioned values at home including having dinner at the table together as a family every night, family movie nights on Fridays and frequent weekend family day trips to Leavenworth, camping together, and finding other fun locations in Washington to explore. Their yearly family visit to the Puyallup Fair during the summer, was their version of "Disneyland" where the kids could eat as much junk food and ride on as many rides as they wanted. Helga enjoyed hosting family functions in her home and her Christmas Eve parties were a yearly tradition everyone enjoyed. She made everyone who came to her home feel welcome and accepted, always with a warm hug and a smile to greet you.

The amount of love for her family, was only matched with the birth of her grandchildren Savannah in 2015 and grandson Orin in 2016. They lovingly called her Oma, a cherished term meaning grandma in German. The fun continued with her grandchildren, when she retired from teaching to begin watching her grandkids full time. It was a job that she adored, teaching the kids arts and crafts and making ginger bread houses with them during the holidays.

Thank you Helga for your abundant legacy of love - you have given to us all. We will carry it forward in your honor.

Keep 5 Faith. Memory Eternal.

Helga is survived by her husband Dan Jaksich and three children Natasha (Joey), Nichole (Danyl) and Nicholas - and grandchildren Savannah (6) and Orin (5). She is also survived by her two brothers David (Robin) and Danny (Jamie) and two sisters Mary and Rosemary (Mike). Additionally, she is survived by several nieces and nephews, a large extended Jaksich/Jurgich family and countless friends and loved ones.

There will be a funeral service followed by graveside service and a subsequent funeral reception on Saturday, October 9th at 11am at Greenwood Memorial Park & Funeral Home, 350 Monroe Ave NE, Renton, WA 98056.

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