Helen (Hopp) Jadack

Helen (Hopp) Jadack, 85, died peacefully at her home Aug. 12, 2011, surrounded by family, after a short battle with cancer.

Helen was born June 30, 1926, in Rudolph, Wisc., the ninth of 10 children born to Julia (Skrzat) and John Molepske.

She was united in marriage to Earl E. Hopp on Jan. 16, 1943. They resided on the family farm with their five daughters. They moved from Wisconsin to Anchorage in 1951. They raised their girls in the home they built on West 23rd Avenue. Earl died on Oct. 6, 1968. Helen was a homemaker most of her life; however, she did work outside the home at the local bowling lane’s café, Blondie’s Café, and a mini mart. She was a member of the Catholic Daughters of America.

On Nov. 22, 1973, she married Emery G. Jadack. They shared homes between Anchorage and Beluga. In Beluga, they spent numerous hours fishing, gardening, picking blueberries and riding three-wheelers with her daughters and grandchildren. In 2008, they sold the house in Anchorage where she had lived for 57 years and moved to a neighborhood in Wasilla surrounded by family.

“Helen was an avid moose hunter, bagging her own moose and black bear. Helen loved gardening, and she provided the family with tomatoes and cucumbers every summer,” the family wrote. “We cannot forget how she cared for her raspberry patch that supplied the whole family with berries along with her many customers. If you were looking for Helen, you would find her picking raspberries. Her love for cooking produced countless jars of jellies and jams that she generously gave to friends and family. She played card and dice games with anyone who stopped by to visit, where she took pleasure in trying to outwit her opponents. Helen was at her happiest cooking for the family on holidays and birthdays. She would cook for days so she always had plenty of food for everyone. She was an outstanding mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, a role model for her family. She was strongly committed to her family and the Catholic faith.”

Surviving her was her husband, Emery G. Jadack, who died two days later; daughters and their husbands, Judy and Mel Christianson, Joan and Leon Crapps of Anchorage, Jeanne and Mike Schachle, Janice and Mike Marsh, and Joyce and Ed Lamm of Wasilla; 16 grandchildren; 33 great-grandchildren; many nieces and nephews; brother, Henry Molepske; sister, Annie Ruder of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisc.; and aunt, Mabel Hopp of Anchorage.

Preceding her in death was her first husband, Earl Hopp; five brothers and two sisters; and her great-grandchildren, Alex and Cindy Crapps.

Visitation is from 6 to 8 p.m., Aug. 17 with the Rosary at 7 p.m. at the Alaskan Heritage Memorial Chapel, 1015 South Check St., Wasilla. A mass to celebrate Helen’s life is at 2 p.m., Aug. 18 at Holy Family Cathedral in Anchorage.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in care of Kaden Schachle, one of Helen’s great-grandsons, CFF Alaska Branch 645 G St., Suite 100 PMB 738 Anchorage, AK 99501.