Helen E. Rold
December 18, 1923 — October 5, 2008
Helen Estella Rold, the daughter of John and Sylvia (Kohles) Kobold, was born on December 18, 1923, at the home of her parents in Earling, Iowa. She attended St. Joseph School and graduated from Harlan High School.
In 1942, she left the farm for Washington, DC, where she worked for the War Production Board, which governed allocation of resources during the war. Although she did not know its purpose at the time, she recalled that everything requested for the Manhattan Project (making of the atom bomb) had "no-questions-asked" priority. After World War II, she went to Germany, where she was a civilian employee of the Allied Prosecution Force for the War Crimes Group in Dachau. While in Europe, she also toured France, Italy, Luxembourg, Holland, Czechoslovakia, and Austria. She saw the worst of which human behavior is capable, but she also sunbathed in the Riviera, skied in the Alps, attended the Vienna Opera, and danced to Glenn Miller at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City.
Helen returned to the United States in 1947 with a commendation from the Secretary of War for her service. She re-settled in Harlan and worked for the Harlan Newspapers. On June 1, 1949, she married Milford D. Rold. They became the parents of one son, William, who became a civil rights lawyer and is currently a judge in New York City.
Helen was the food manager for St. Michael�s School and she worked in various executive secretarial positions for many years at Harlan Manufacturing Company, Fred Stamp CPA, Production Credit Association, and Western Engineering Company. She was secretary-treasurer of the Shelby County Association for Retarded Children, and she was active in the Harlan Golf and Country Club and the Harlan Community Theater. Helen was an avid dancer, golfer, bridge player, wine maker, and quilt and needle worker. She was a stroke survivor for sixteen years.
Helen and Milford made their home in Tucson, Arizona, for many years where Milford died in 1996. Helen returned to her native Harlan in 2006, and she was a resident of Elm Crest Retirement Community when she died on October 5, 2008, having attained the age if eighty-four years, nine months, and seventeen days.
In addition to her parents and husband, Helen was preceded in death by her sister and brother, Marietta Miller and Jack Kobold. She is survived by her son, William Rold of New York, New York, two sisters: Sally Bauer of Spencer, Indiana and Carol Becklun of Bellevue, Nebraska, one brother Michael Kobold of Danville, California; nieces and nephews; cousins; other relatives; bridge and golf partners; cub scouts, and many friends.
A funeral service was held on Wednesday, October 8, 2008, at the Pauley Jones Funeral Home in Harlan, Iowa with Rev. Bob Hoefler officiating the 1:00 PM service. Inurnment was held at the Harlan Cemetery in Harlan, Iowa.
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In 1942, she left the farm for Washington, DC, where she worked for the War Production Board, which governed allocation of resources during the war. Although she did not know its purpose at the time, she recalled that everything requested for the Manhattan Project (making of the atom bomb) had "no-questions-asked" priority. After World War II, she went to Germany, where she was a civilian employee of the Allied Prosecution Force for the War Crimes Group in Dachau. While in Europe, she also toured France, Italy, Luxembourg, Holland, Czechoslovakia, and Austria. She saw the worst of which human behavior is capable, but she also sunbathed in the Riviera, skied in the Alps, attended the Vienna Opera, and danced to Glenn Miller at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City.
Helen returned to the United States in 1947 with a commendation from the Secretary of War for her service. She re-settled in Harlan and worked for the Harlan Newspapers. On June 1, 1949, she married Milford D. Rold. They became the parents of one son, William, who became a civil rights lawyer and is currently a judge in New York City.
Helen was the food manager for St. Michael�s School and she worked in various executive secretarial positions for many years at Harlan Manufacturing Company, Fred Stamp CPA, Production Credit Association, and Western Engineering Company. She was secretary-treasurer of the Shelby County Association for Retarded Children, and she was active in the Harlan Golf and Country Club and the Harlan Community Theater. Helen was an avid dancer, golfer, bridge player, wine maker, and quilt and needle worker. She was a stroke survivor for sixteen years.
Helen and Milford made their home in Tucson, Arizona, for many years where Milford died in 1996. Helen returned to her native Harlan in 2006, and she was a resident of Elm Crest Retirement Community when she died on October 5, 2008, having attained the age if eighty-four years, nine months, and seventeen days.
In addition to her parents and husband, Helen was preceded in death by her sister and brother, Marietta Miller and Jack Kobold. She is survived by her son, William Rold of New York, New York, two sisters: Sally Bauer of Spencer, Indiana and Carol Becklun of Bellevue, Nebraska, one brother Michael Kobold of Danville, California; nieces and nephews; cousins; other relatives; bridge and golf partners; cub scouts, and many friends.
A funeral service was held on Wednesday, October 8, 2008, at the Pauley Jones Funeral Home in Harlan, Iowa with Rev. Bob Hoefler officiating the 1:00 PM service. Inurnment was held at the Harlan Cemetery in Harlan, Iowa.
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