Helen J. Meilke

Helen J. Meilke, age 97, died Nov. 8, 2011, in Spokane Valley.

She was a lifelong resident of Lind where she spent many years as a farm wife and mother. She was born in Cunningham Jan. 9, 1914, to Fred and Julia Damon, the sixth of 10 children. At 16 years old, she graduated from Lind High School in 1930, then attended Kinman Business College in Spokane.

She fell in love with Art Meilke and they were married in 1941 where she joined him at the Meilke Farm in Lind. Together they farmed until their retirement in the mid 1970s.

She loved living on the farm where she raised her family. She worked...