Helen E. Duven, 90, of Waterloo, died Thursday, March 27 at Lakeview Landing of Friendship Village of natural causes.

She was born June 6,1923 in Cherokee, Iowa, daughter of Oscar Karlson and Emma Okerstrom Karlson. Helen married Donald Duven on June 6, 1946. Helen graduated from Iowa State University in 1945 from the College of Home Economics as a dietician. She worked in the dietary department at the University of Iowa and later with the Maytag Company in Newton. Helen was a homemaker for most of her life, caring for her husband and children.

Helen and Don lived a fun and stimulating life. They loved to travel. When their children were younger they took trips to Sweden and the Netherlands to expose the children to their Swedish and Dutch backgrounds. They traveled with the kids to every state in the continental United States and also visited Cuba. Later in life Helen and Don enjoyed cruises, and they traveled to Hawaii and Panama.

Throughout their married life, Helen and Don lived in Iowa City, Newton, Sioux City and Lincoln, NE, finally moving to Waterloo in 1986 following retirement to be closer to their grandkids. While in Waterloo, they came to love the northern Wisconsin area and spent many months in the summers on the Spider Lake Chain of Lakes.

Helen and Don loved to collect art. This was partly due to the fact that Helen worked for several years at an art gallery in Lincoln. She was exposed to many local artists and they liked to display those works of art in their home. Helen and Don also loved sports, especially Big Red football during their years in Lincoln. They never missed a home game if they were in town. Helen and Don had a large group of friends that they remained close with throughout their lives. They would often travel to visit their friends in different states. For years Helen and Don made an annual trip to the Aspen Music Festival with friends.

Over the years Helen was involved in many social groups. While still in Lincoln she served as President of her local P.E.O. chapter. She was always involved in her church, wherever they lived. Don and Helen loved to play bridge and many Saturday nights would join others for an evening of card playing. In her later years in Waterloo she was active in a Bible Study group as well as the Red Hat Society. Helen was a member of Chapter Z, P.E.O. and Westminster Presbyterian Church in Waterloo.

She is survived by her husband, three children, Doug (Dawn) Duven of Waterloo; Diann (John) Duvenez of Oak Harbor, Washington and Bill (Susan) Duven of Monument, Colorado; nine grandchildren: Jennifer (Dan) Hucker, Emily Duven, Ben Duven, Sean (Amber) Bovee, Ryan Duvenez, Allison Duvenez, Alex Duven, Katie Duven and Madeline Duven. Four great grandchildren. Brother in law: Otto Schneider of N. Sioux City, South Dakota and Sister in law: Fran Karlson of Cherokee, Iowa.

She is preceded in death by her sister Marion Schneider and her brother Carl Karlson.