Helen Ruth Peeno

Helen Ruth Peeno, age 98, of Erlanger, KY, was called home on March 16, 2023.

Helen was preceded in death by her parents Elmer Peeno and Fannie (Stull) Peeno, her sister Virginia (Peeno) Gay, brothers Clarence Peeno and William Peeno, and sister-in-law Bonnie Peeno.  She is survived by sister-in-law Shirley Peeno, nieces Pamela (Gay) Girdler (Carl) and Barbara (Peeno) Black (Keith), nephews Dr. Douglas Peeno (Betsy) and Michael Gay, and numerous great and great-great nieces and nephews.

Helen has always been a person who put others before herself.  She moved to Chicago, Illinois in the early 1950s to work as the business manager of a Church of the Brethren hospital, Bethany Hospital.  Not long after the move, she met a woman who had been afflicted with polio at the age of four who also worked in the business section of the hospital.  She was challenged with heavy metal braces on both her legs.  The two became fast friends, and Helen would make sure Olga was included in everything she did and all her vacations.

When Helen neared retirement age, she was becoming disillusioned with her job.  The Church had sold the hospital to a large corporation, and it had become her job to trim down the ranks of her employees, a job she wasn’t looking forward to.  Instead, she elected to retire and move back to Kentucky to be near her family.  Never married, the one regret Helen had was that she never had children of her own.  After moving to Kentucky, she was always available for babysitting her great nieces and nephews.  She also started volunteering at the local St. Elizabeth hospital, where she held babies.  She loved them all, but her heart went out to those with special needs, abandoned or those born with drug addiction.  She would hold them, rock them, and love them so often that she eventually had to have carpel tunnel surgery.  Helen also had a group of friends over every Friday night for bible study and prayer meeting.

But, in her mid 80’s, her eye sight started to dwindle.  She developed both glaucoma and macular degeneration.  She was treated regularly, but the eye sight continued to grow worse, until she finally had to move from her home to the Independent living section of Baptist Village.  She lived there probably longer than she should have, but the personnel there loved her and would help her and her niece, Pam, came daily to make her coffee and make sure she had taken her pills.  Eventually, it was evident that her mind was not as sharp as it should be and more services were added to her room and board.  Then, in late October, 2019, the staff found her on the floor of her apartment.  The ER doctor made it clear that she could no longer live in the independent section of the care center, so she was moved to the other side of the building, known as Village Care Center.

Towards the end, Helen was blind, wheel chair bound, and her mind was all but gone, but when anyone came to visit, she was always hospitable and all who knew her still loved her to the end.

A graveside service will be held Friday March 24, 2023 at 2pm at Hebron Lutheran Cemetery in Hebron, KY. Memorial contributions can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association 644 Linn Street Suite 1026 Cincinnati, OH 45203. Online condolences can be made at www.linnemannfuneralhomes.com