Helen Constance Petersen Obit

HELEN CONSTANCE PETERSEN, 80, passed away Saturday, Jan. 17 at Edgewood Vista Memory Care. She is remembered by many friends and family members in the Brainerd and Crosby area. Born in Brainerd, she was one of 10 children born to Florence (O’Toole) and Harold Cecil Chamberlin and later stepdaughter to Madeline (LaSart) Chamberlin. She attended high school in Crosby, but ended up graduating from Mount Rainier High School, in Seattle, WA. She intended on becoming a nurse and worked as a Ward Clerk at St. Joseph’s hospital in Brainerd, before eventually staying at home to take care of her family and run a home daycare. She cared for many Brainerd families during her 35 years of running the home daycare. She loved kids, dogs, quilting, biking, and swimming. She was happiest when she was behind the camera capturing family moments, holding a baby, or helping others. Helen and her loving husband, Gary Petersen, were married for 58 years. She is preceded in death by her parents and stepmother, her sisters Mary Elizabeth Nelson, Dorothy Jones, and Florence Makousky, and her twin brother Harold Carl Chamberlin. She is survived by her eight children, 15 grandchildren, and one great- granddaughter, as well as by her siblings Lawrence (Linda) Chamberlin, Bernard (Patty) Chamberlin, Earl (Barney) Chamberlin, Martha (John) Cloutier, Edward Chamberlin, Robert Chamberlin, Melissa Adair, and Margaret (Thomas) Schrader. Services have been held.