Helen Canine

Helen G. Canine, 91, passed away peacefully on April 4 with her husband of 70 years, Willard Canine, by her side at their home in West Des Moines. Helen was born on a lucky day—Friday the 13th of July 1928—in Des Moines, the second of four children and only daughter of Ira Melaas and Madelia (Kalsem) Melaas. She attended Des Moines public schools, graduating from North High School in 1946.

Later that year, Helen entered Drake University in Des Moines on a full music scholarship. She was a student of Prof. Paul Stoye, a renowned pianist from Germany. During her freshman year, she met Willard Canine, a Drake classmate from Norwalk. They were married during their senior year, in 1949. While at Drake, Helen was inducted into Mortar Board, a national honor society, as well as Mu Phi Epsilon, a national sorority for outstanding women in music.

After graduating from Drake, Helen taught music and piano in the Des Moines Public schools. She and Will moonlighted together as the accompanist and director of a local church choir until Will’s work took them to Glidden, Iowa. The first of their three children, daughter Cathy, was born in 1952 in nearby Carroll. A subsequent move took them to Cedar Falls, where their second child, son Craig, was born in 1958. Within a year they had moved back to Des Moines, where son Steven was born in 1961.

For 40 years, Helen touched the lives of scores of young students as a piano teacher based in their Windsor Heights home. She was an active member of the Iowa Music Teacher Assoc./MTNA, B-Sharp women’s music club in Des Moines, Pacesetters, and the International Piano Teachers Assoc. Helen traveled widely to attend music educators’ conferences, most recently in Norway, where she and Will also enjoyed visiting some of her maternal relatives in Stavanger. In addition to her musical activities, she was proud to be a 50-plus-year member of the P.E.O. Sisterhood.

As a long-time member of Windsor Heights Lutheran Church, Helen anchored the soprano section of the Senior Choir for decades and filled in as volunteer pianist/organist for innumerable weddings, funerals, and regular services. In the 1970s, she led the creation of a lunch and fellowship group for senior members of the congregation, called Elderberries, which still meets every month.

She is survived by her husband, Willard; daughter Cathy Riggs of Martinez, CA; sons Craig (Myla Sherburne) of Eastsound, WA, and Steve (Kate Breen) of Piedmont, CA; seven grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Helen was preceded in death by her parents, Ira and Madelia (Kalsem) Melaas; and brothers Donald, Bruce, and Joseph.

Hamilton’s on Westown Parkway is handling arrangements. A memorial service will be announced at a later date. Memorial contributions may be sent to Windsor Heights Lutheran Church, 1240 66th Street, Windsor Heights, IA 50324, or the Alzheimer’s Association (www.alz.org). Online condolences may be expressed at www.Hamiltonsfuneralhome.com.

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