Helen Menn Fink, 92, died peacefully January 14, 2025, surrounded by loved ones at Lakewood Rocky Mountain Assisted Living.

Helen and her twin sister, Harriet, were born on May 14, 1932, in Norwalk, Wisconsin to Lena Anna Elizabeth Brandau Menn and Edwin Menn.  All four of the twins' grandparents were born in Germany.  Helen's father, Edwin, was a farmer who unfortunately died 18 months after the twins were born.  As was not unusual for the time, to keep the family together Helen's mother, Lena, married Ernest Gajewsky, the widowed husband of her sister, who owned a nearby farm.  Lena A. E. B. M. Gajewsky moved with her 6 girls – 2-year-old twins Helen and Harriet along with their sisters Opal, Eunice, Virginia, and Olive to the Gajewsky farm in the hills of rural Wisconsin.  Lena worked tirelessly taking care of the farmhouse, garden and her daughters plus Ernest and her sister's seven children.  Helen vividly recalled this time as isolated and difficult during which she moved from kitchen to farm fields to the barn seemingly doing endless chores.  She often told stories about having Harriet do her work for her, with Harriet responding, "If I catch you up (on the weeding, milking, plucking, planting), will you stay caught up?" to which she always responded with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, "I'll try".

The children of the blended Menn and Gajewsky family went to a small rural elementary school and then to secondary school in the larger community of Sparta, WI.  The twins were popular and inconceivably one of 5 sets of twins in their small class of around 40 students.  Helen and her twin sister, Harriet, met their future husbands, Don Fink and Dave Benedict, while attending Sparta High School.  The story goes that during her junior year in high school, Helen asked Don to the Sadie Hawkins Dance (a casual dance where girls invite the boys to be their dates) after betting her math teacher a quarter that he would turn her down.  She lost the bet but won a future husband!

During high school both Helen and Harriet worked at a drug store in Sparta run by Don Fink's father, the local pharmacist, Dale Fink.  They stocked shelves and served sodas and shakes. The pharmacy owner used to tell Helen she was going to bankrupt him because she put so much ice cream in the shakes. After high school, Helen attended LaCrosse Vocational School where she earned her associates degree. After graduating she earned a position on the secretarial staff of Wisconsin Governor Walter Kohler, Jr and put Don through medical school. During this time she also did some advertisement modeling for Trane Heating and Cooling.

In 1954, Helen married Don Fink who had attended the Naval Academy briefly before returning to Wisconsin to attend the University of Wisconsin – Madison for his undergraduate degree and where he also went to Medical School.  They relocated from Wisconsin to on-base housing at Ft. Hood, Killeen, Texas with their first son Donald Fink, Jr.  After completing his compulsory military service, the couple moved with their son to the small river bluff town of St. Croix Falls, WI where sons Karl and Brian were born. It was here in St Croix Falls where Don and Helen suffered their first great loss as a couple: the loss of their daughter, Nora, who was stillborn.  From there, the family moved to Denver, CO where Don Fink, Sr. did a residency in radiology. Their first house in Denver was on Grape Street and during this time they welcomed the birth of their daughter, Katy.  The family relocated one final time to Cherry Hills Village where Helen lived for over 50 years until December 2024.

The Fink family was active at Wellshire Presbyterian Church where Helen was a long-time Sunday School teacher and choir member.  She and Don went on many international trips with choirs and friends. In 2003, tragedy struck again with the sudden death of Katy's husband, Eric Johnson. Katy and the boys moved back to Colorado to be closer to Don and Helen and they were very active in helping Katy raise their two boys, Nicholas and Benjamin. In 2008, Helen's world was turned upside down with the sudden, unexpected death of Don, who was the love of her life. Though Helen enjoyed traveling with Don, she mostly liked to be still, quiet and at home.  She was a big sports fan, watching baseball (Atlanta Braves where nephew Bruce was a catcher from 1978-1989, but not the CO Rockies because they haven't been very good) and football (Broncos, Packers, and Badgers). She tolerated watching hockey with Katy and her family.  She liked to exercise and walk along the High Line Canal trail (often seen with pet poodle, Trixie) and was wickedly good at Pilates. More recently, she rolled dice playing 'Shut the Box', reveled in watching classic Cary Grant films ("who wouldn't" she'd quip), had practically memorized the soundtrack for the movie version of The Sound of Music, enjoyed the experience of jigsaw puzzling, and relished spending hours rocking in the sunshine on the back porch.

Throughout the years, Helen remained close with her twin sister, Harriett. For many of those years, while living in the Denver area she was but a day's drive away from Harriett who during that time lived in Omaha, NE. The Fink/Benedict cousins had a special bond and always had a great time when the families got together, and they still do today.

Helen was a consummate homemaker, cook, baker, and most importantly, mother.  Her children were her pride and joy. She was happiest when all were gathered together competing to make her smile and laugh.  She welcomed daughters-in-law: Carolyn (Don), Jane; Joeaux (Karl), Teri (Brian) and son-in-law, Eric (Katy). She doted on her grandchildren (in order of age): Colin, Dillon, Riley, Ruby, Ellie, Kai, Casey, Nicholas, Olivia, Violet, and Benjamin, and wondered at her 5 (so far!) great grandchildren. She is survived by her twin sister, Harriet Benedict (Dallas, Tx), step-brothers, Dick Gajewsky and Phil Gajewsky (Sparta, WI) and numerous nephews and nieces, beloved among them her god daughter, Nancy Olson.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a memorial gift to: Wellshire Presbyterian Church Choir or the Cherry Creek Chorale in her name.