Helen Marie Kudla (1939 – 2022)
Helen Marie Kudla, 83, of Hellertown, died peacefully in the company of her loving family on Tuesday, June 28.
She was the wife of the late Edward J. Kudla, who died on June 1, 2022. Helen was born in Philadelphia on June 6, 1939 to the late Frank J. and Helen M. (Davish) Quinn. Although always active raising her six sons, maintaining the household and helping with the family business, Harper’s Beverage, of Hellertown, she spent more than two decades as a Seafood Department Supervisor with ShopRite. Helen originally embarked on her professional trajectory as a nursing student, but found her true purpose once she started her family as a young mother. Her quick wit, humor and the first aid skills she developed while studying nursing served her very well while nurturing her boys. In a legendary display of all of these attributes, combined with her compassion for the underdog, she once funded and coordinated the “rescue,” release and re-homing of Larry-The-One-Armed-Lobster from the sales tank at ShopRite, because she felt badly that “the other lobsters were picking on him.” Although the only child of her adoring parents, Helen had a passion for organizing large family gatherings and never tired of preparing meals and desserts that could feed armies. Always embracing her Philly roots, she enjoyed Sunday dinners the most, as she could spend time with her family while also watching and cheering for her beloved Eagles, particularly when they’d register an occasional win. She developed a keen ear for pop music while she and the family resided in Africa in the late ’70s, to complement her love of Frank Sinatra and Barry White; and even the best of the best could never top her at a game of “name that tune.” Fully appreciating the struggles that young mothers can face yet, more profoundly, the rewards of accepting those challenges, she spent many years volunteering and mentoring at Birth Right. She rarely had time to rest, but she enjoyed spending her limited down time reading mystery and thriller novels, always peeking at the last page first, cuddling with one of the many cats she raised over the years and, of course, relaxing on the beach during family vacations to Ocean City, N.J.
SURVIVORS
Children: Francis J. (Jan) Kudla of Brea, Calif., Michael J. Kudla of Hellertown, Joseph E. Kudla of Bethlehem, Kerry E. (Renata) Kudla of Saylorsburg, Kyle E. (Kristin) Kudla of Flemington, N.J.; five grandchildren (Julia, Joseph, Holden, Bailey and Crosley); three great-grandchildren (Perry, Paxton and Palmer). She was predeceased by a son: Kelly Patrick Kudla in 2014.
SERVICE
There will be a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 6, 2022 at St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church, 445 N. Main St., Sellersville, Pa. The interment will conclude services at St. Agnes Cemetery, Sellersville. Online memorial tributes may be shared at HeintzelmanCares.com. Arrangements are by the Heintzelman Funeral Home Inc., Hellertown.
