Nila Helder

Nila Alberta Helder age 96 of Brandon, passed away peacefully on Monday, May 1, 2017 at the Brandon's Assisted Living. A funeral service will take place on Saturday, May 6, 2017 at 11:00AM at the Grace Lutheran Church in Brandon, MN. A visitation will take place on Friday, May 5, 2017 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at Grace Lutheran Church and also one hour prior to the funeral at the church.


Nila Alberta (Knutson) Helder was born on October 9, 1920, in Canton, South Dakota, the daughter of Albert and Eva Knutson. She attended grade school and high school in Canton. After high school she attended school to be a teacher at Madison Normal College. She taught country school for five years in Canton, SD. Nila was a caring, loving teacher who maintained an orderly classroom.

On May 25, 1945, Nila and Verlyn Helder were united in marriage in Canton, the city where they had met in elementary school. Verlyn describes their meeting as destiny and Nila was his life- long companion, someone who was always by his side and was ready for the next adventure. The couple traveled over the years to all fifty states and all of the providences of Canada. They visited the most southern point of the US at South Point Hawaii and the extreme north where Nila dipped her toes in the Arctic Ocean. They often traveled as a family, making new memories with each trip. She was the wife and mother that could cook and prepare anything. She was capable and determined in all that she did. Nila had an artistic side to her that wrote poetry, sewed, painted beautiful pictures and designed pressed copper pieces of artwork. She worked side by side with Verlyn on many projects around their farm. Nila never gave up on anything! She started playing golf at the age of seventy-five, only to retire from the game at the age of eighty-nine due to her health changing.

At the age of ninety-six, Nila went to meet her Lord and Saviour. She is preceded in death by her sisters, Marie (Merl) Walker, Elene (Ed) McGinty, Lois (Bill) Christensen; brother, Alvin (Harriet) Knutson.
She is survived by her husband, Verlyn; children, Dick Helder, Thomas (Annette) Helder; grandchildren, Daniel (Chelsea) Helder, Marie (Josh) Anderson; great-grandchildren, Lauren and Greta Anderson and Cameron Helder.