Eileen Helgeson

Eileen Helgeson, 90, passed peacefully at home in Long Lake, Minnesota, on January 15, 2026. A memorial service will be held Monday, June 1, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. at St. John Lutheran Church in Hatton, ND. A visitation will be held from 9:30 a.m. until the time of the service at the church. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to The American Red Cross, Second Harvest Heartland, or The Del and Eileen Helgeson Scholarship Fund at NDSU.

Eileen was born in Thompson, North Dakota, on January 23, 1935, to Lockerd and Therese (Tweten) Thompson. She was the second oldest of eight children and lived with her family in Hatton, ND. She graduated from Hatton High School in 1953. She then moved to Fargo, ND where she met and later married Delmer Helgeson on March 21, 1954. Together they had one son, Gary. Eileen worked as an Administrative Assistant for chemists at 3M Corp. in Maplewood, MN until moving to Lincoln, NB in 1967 while her husband completed a Doctoral program in Agricultural Economics. They then moved back to Fargo where Eileen continued work as Administrative Assistant for many years at Southeast Human Service Center. Eileen retired in 1990 and she and Del moved to their lake home in Park Rapids, Minnesota where they spent many happy years together. After Del’s death, Eileen moved to Moorhead, Minnesota and later to Long Lake, Minnesota to be near her son.

Eileen is preceded in death by her parents, Lockerd and Therese Thompson, her husband Del, two sisters – Viola Groen and Shirley Cordahl, and three brothers – Wayne Thompson, Gerald Thompson and Rodney Thompson. She is survived by her son, Gary Helgeson (Nancy Bologna), two grandchildren, Justin Helgeson of Sioux Falls, SD and Stephanie Helgeson of Park Rapids, MN, two great grandchildren, Ethan and Olivia, a sister Lorna Nicholson and a brother Gene Thompson.