Helen Wieben pitched in at the family farm in Tama County, Iowa, for years, raising three children, milking cows by hand, growing a big garden, catering meals, decorating cakes and helping with church activities. More recently, the 2018 Master Farm Homemaker has put just as much of her managerial skill and energy into community service for the town of Dysart.
Helen and husband Dennis grew corn, soybeans and oats on gently rolling land; fed cattle and hogs; and for eight years had a dairy operation on what would be recognized in 2009 as a Century Farm a few miles south of Dysart. “We always had a big garden, and I cooked and took hundreds of meals to the field,” Helen says.

SHE DOES IT: Helen Wieben uses a golf cart to get to her volunteer work at the city park in Dysart. She’s been very involved in building a new gazebo, in flower and tree plantings in the park, and beautification projects overall.

Milking routine
“When we milked cows in the 1950s, I did most of the evening milking: four to six Brown Swiss by hand. I remember the kids were small. I hung them in their car seats on the wall while I milked. It wasn’t the best, but it seemed like the only thing I could do to get the milking done and watch them at the same time.”

Such multitasking served Helen well as she kept the books (she knew where every penny went) and helped Dennis in all things on the farm. She also ran a cake decoration business for more than a decade, which led to a busy catering business she ran out of her home for 13 years.
“We’d cater for 20 to 300 people at a time, sometimes three meals a week,” Helen recalls. “There were a lot of weddings and anniversaries, and many Pioneer meetings. I had five ladies helping.”
At the same time, Helen was in the midst of teaching both Sunday school and Bible school at Zion Lutheran Church, which she did for more than 20 years. She attends adult Sunday school yet today and chairs a women’s group at the church. A member for 63 years, she sang in the choir, served as junior high choir director for eight years, and helped with church meals and fundraising events.
She’s still active, most recently helping make 15 gallons of ice cream in five freezers and helping serve a complete meal to 160 people to raise money for college scholarships for Zion Lutheran high school students.

Education a priority
“Growing up, we always had farm chores before and after school,” says daughter Michelle Bruce, “but homework was always the priority. Our family vacations were fun but had learning experiences tied in. We were always told that asking questions was a way to learn without books, and hands-on work experience was worth a lot.”
Michelle is project coordinator at Karr Tuckpointing in Vinton, and brothers Michael and Mitchell are operating the family farm.
The learning-through-travel didn’t stop for Helen and Dennis once the children were grown. They started traveling internationally in 1980, with trips to Australia, Africa, New Zealand and Europe.
On one trip, they visited Yves Montoille, a foreign exchange student from France, whom they hosted for a year in their home. They also traveled to every state in the U.S., including Alaska and Hawaii.
Helen still has a chance to help family members learn. She has seven grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, 11 step-great-grandchildren and three more on the way.

Put others first
Despite all that travel for fun, Helen and Dennis were constantly putting other people first as they volunteered in Dysart in many ways. After the couple retired from farming and moved to Dysart, Dennis served as mayor and board member for the bank and school board. Dennis and Helen helped organize the Dysart Historical Ag Museum and were the sole groundskeepers for years. Dennis was on the Dysart tree board and Helen was on the beautification committee.
Dennis passed away in 2013, but Helen has continued their legacy of community service. She continues to serve on the museum board, helps take care of the flowers and roses on the grounds, and volunteers as a tour guide at the museum. She’s volunteered at the Dysart Historical Society since its inception.
A member of the park board, Helen was instrumental in building a new gazebo in the park patterned after the original one. She helped start the gardens in the city park and continues to help maintain them. That’s in addition to maintaining her own gardens; her yard is one of the stops on garden tours and garden walks in town.
“I guess I couldn’t say no,” Helen says of her selfless giving to the community. A longtime active leader and member of the Dysart Women’s Club, Helen was named Woman of the Year in 2015. She and Dennis were named citizens of the year by the Lions Club as well, along with other honors.
Betts writes from Johnston, Iowa.