Obituaries

Marlys Joyce Helgeland

Obituary

Longtime Bothell resident Marlys Joyce Helgeland was called home to be with her Lord and Savior on March 21, 2025.  A woman of deep faith, Marlys was loving and kind and was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside.  She was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 2nd, 1933 to Sigurd and Alice Skarin.  As a young girl, Marlys loved to ice skate and spend time with her older sister Meredith.  Her family moved to Hudsen, Wisconsin and lived there until Marlys was a teen when the family moved to Seattle.  After graduating from Queen Anne High School, Marlys attended Seattle University.  As a freshman, she was asked to her favorite performance by a young dashing Richard (Dick) Helgeland.  She accepted, only to find out that he had stretched the truth about having tickets but Marlys still had a good time.  His trickery worked because 4 years later on November 24th 1954, they were married. 

Upon graduation from the University of Washington, Dick received a commission in the Navy and the newly married couple moved to Memphis, Tennessee.  Marlys loved the military life and was active in the officers’ wives club and volunteered for many events and causes.  The Helgeland’s lived many places during that time including the San Francisco area, close to Atlanta, Pensacola and Jacksonville Florida.  During that time, they had their first daughter, Cathy and shortly after a second daughter, Jean Marie. They decided with the growing family, it was time for a more permanent situation.  Dick and Marlys purchased a home in Bothell where their family grew again with another daughter, Linda.  Marlys found her church home when she joined the 1st Lutheran Church in downtown Bothell in 1961.  She loved singing in the choir and praise sing.  Marlys spent many hours volunteering at the church and for church functions, her favorite being in charge of flowers for Sunday service and distributing them after the service to those who were not able to attend.   She also loved helping with the weddings.

Marlys loved being a mother and loved kids in general.  She spent many hours at the elementary school volunteering and active in the PTA, even serving as President, earning the Golden Acorn award twice.  It was when her youngest daughter was in elementary school that Marlys herself decided to go to work in the Northshore School District.  She started as a part time playground assistant.  Soon she moved up to School Secretary working at a number of elementary schools including Wooden Elementary, Shelton View, Cottage Lake and Bear Creek.  One of her highlights from that time was working with her very good friend Pat Baer.  Marlys was very proud that all three of her daughters became teachers.

Marlys had many interests and loved to explore them.   As the family was growing up, they enjoyed camping, getting out on the water, boating and up in the mountains, skiing.  Marlys loved skiing down the slopes. She also was member of the Kenmore Gun Range and was a sharpshooter even winning the women’s trap shooting competition more than once.   She was always interested in sewing but later in life she embraced quilting and knitting as her main hobbies. 

Marlys was very proud of her Norwegian heritage and showed her pride in her home, her license plate and her choice of clothes.  In addition, Marlys loved all sports but her favorite was watching her beloved Mariners.  Of all her loves, her greatest was her family.  When the grandkids came along, she became Nan.  They brought her so much joy.  No one was happier than Nan when her grandchildren started playing various sports.   She was delighted that she could combine her favorite things by attending as many of the sporting events as possible and supporting her grandkids.  And if the sun was shining, that was a bonus because that was another thing Marlys loved, Sunshine. 

In her final years, her greatest joy was the visits and hugs from her Great Grandchildren.

We were all so blessed to have this beautiful woman in our lives.   Our angel on earth is now our angel in heaven. 

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, April 5th, 11:00 AM at the Chapel of the Resurrection Funeral Home, located on the grounds of Cedar Park Church, 16300 112th Ave NE, Bothell, WA 98011