Helen Ann (Willems) Boraker passed peacefully from this life surrounded by her loved ones on Nov. 29, 2024 following a quick decline with dementia and heart failure.
Helen was born on Oct. 28, 1934 to Issac and Anna Willems in Inman, Kansas. She was one of four children and the eldest daughter. Her family lived in Kansas and California and eventually they settled in Custer.
Helen met her husband at Ferndale High School and they were married shortly after graduation. They had two children, Greg and Tracy, and spent those years raising their family in Ferndale and Blaine.
Helen and her husband moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1983 and ran a bicycle shop and lived and worked in Phoenix for 20-plus years. Helen has always been devoted to her faith and church community wherever she was living.
Helen and her husband retired back to Ferndale in 1998. In their retirement, they enjoyed house and pet sitting and were able to meet new people and connect with their friends and family as they traveled a lot. They spent a great deal of their time on Samish Island. When her husband passed away in 2016, Helen and her longtime friend and sister-in-law Charolette became inseparable. Helen and Charolette would spend lots of time visiting friends and family who were homebound, also visiting with friends for games and lunch.
Helen was very active at her church as well.
Helen was survived by her children Greg (Mari) from Wisconsin, Tracy from Ferndale, sister Betty, sister-in-law Charolette, grandchildren Heather (Paul), DeAnna (Aadam), Stefanie (Vernon), Maddie (James) and great-grandchildren Rye, Baylee, Corbin, Eli, Connor, Frankie, Isabelle, Presley, and Maverick. Helen was proceeded in death by her husband Everett and her parents, siblings Joel and Jim, son-in-law Scott, and granddaughter Whitney.
Please join us on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 3 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Ferndale, 5759 Vista Drive. Fellowship to follow.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Samaritan’s Purse or Child Evangelism Fellowship of Whatcom County.
Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Sig’s Funeral Home.
