Mary Helen Wrycha, 92, passed away peacefully and in the presence of her loving family early on the morning of Sunday, March 30, 2025, at home in Weston, where she had just begun hospice care following three months of worsening health problems.

Born in Medford, Wisconsin, on July 7, 1932, Mary Helen was one of two children of Matthew and Erna (Wegner) Tominac. She graduated from Our Lady of the Holy Rosary elementary school in Medford in 1946 and from Our Lady of the Holy Cross High School in Merrill in 1950. A gifted pianist who began playing piano in elementary school, Mary Helen was a student of Miss Evelyn Broecker at Holy Cross under whose guidance she earned a first place at the state piano competition playing Rachmaninoff's difficult Prelude in C Sharp Minor, Op. 3 No 2.

The first person in her family to have the opportunity to attend college, Mary Helen learned from the Sisters of the Holy Cross that she would receive a scholarship to attend, at her choice, either the College of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois or the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota. Mary Helen (and her parents) chose St. Scholastica, a decision she never regretted. There, she found herself in a congenial academic environment reflective of the spirit of the Benedictine sisters who ran the college.

At St. Scholastica, Mary Helen focused her studies on becoming a Medical Technologist. However, just a year before she would have graduated, her father's declining health forced her to leave and complete her training in a non-degree program at St. Joseph Hospital in Marshfield where she worked for several years. When Mary Helen left St. Joseph Hospital, she stayed in Marshfield to work at the Marshfield Clinic.

It was in Marshfield that Mary Helen met her future husband, Norman G. Froeba, whom she married on July 4th 1960 at Holy Rosary Church in Medford. Together, they had three children, Lori Ann (1961), Mark (1962) and Paul (1965). In 1962, they bought a house in Schofield and joined St. Therese Church in Rothschild where Mary Helen remained a parishioner for the rest of her life. When her first husband, Norman, died unexpectedly in May of 1970, she decided it was best for her children that she not return to work despite the financial hardship this entailed.

Happily, her life as a single mother was not to last too long. Within a few years, she and fellow St. Therese parishioner (and widower), Raymond J. Wrycha, began to court. On August 3rd 1974, they married at St. Therese. In addition to the three children Mary Helen brought to the new family, Ray brought four (three already adults) from his first marriage, Ray (1951), James (1953), Sandy (1954) and David (1958).

Although trained and employed for many years as a Medical Technologist, when Mary Helen decided to return to work in the 1980s, she could not resume that role without further training (in Madison). Instead, she agreed to return to work as a phlebotomist at what was then Wausau Hospital, finally retiring in 1992.

Mary Helen loved to celebrate holidays with family throughout the year, especially Christmas. Nothing made her happier than planning and cooking the Big Three holiday meals: Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. Every year she introduced new recipes and also made all the old standbys! The last big feast she made, for Thanksgiving 2024, may have been her best with easily twelve separate dishes, many new, all delicious. She was busy preparing for her Christmas 2024 Feast, when she got covid. In addition to cooking for holidays, Mary Helen loved to decorate for holidays, especially Christmas but also Halloween, Thanksgiving and Easter. As the years passed, she was no longer able to put out all of her vast collection of Christmas decorations (she last put them all out in 2019) but even the more limited decorations she put out still lit up every room with Christmas joy. Mary Helen liked to quote Henry Winkler from her

favorite Hallmark Christmas show that December 26th was "the saddest day of the year", but like an Ebenezer Scrooge who never needed ghosts to understand Christmas, Mary Helen kept Christmas in her heart all year long and never ceased to celebrate it!

Mary Helen was a committed parishioner at St. Therese Church for the whole of her married life. At St. Therese, she joined Court St. Rose of the Catholic Daughters in November 25, 1963 and recently enjoyed recognition for her 60-year membership. She was also a very active member of the Little Flower Council at St. Therese which she joined at about the same time.

Another way Mary Helen loved to serve her Parish was by baking for the St. Therese Parish bake sales, the Holiday Showcase and the Palm Sunday Bake Sale. She began planning and preparing months in advance for these sales, searching on-line for new recipes and ordering supplies. She continued to make dozens of items for both sales every year even as recently as Palm Sunday 2024. Her much-anticipated contributions were always hard to price (since they seemed to cost more than one could reasonably charge) but never gathered any dust on the display tables!

Later, Mary Helen would become more active in her Parish's liturgical life. She became an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist to help distribute Communion and even began to serve Mass with Raymond in their retirement, first at funerals and later at daily Mass. Together they volunteered as Parish sacristans for many years. Mary Helen and Raymond were also part of a rotation of volunteers who led the Rosary before Mass every Sunday. Finally, they served as "FOCCUS Facilitators" for 36 young couples who received their marriage preparation through St. Therese Parish.

But the ministry Mary Helen most enjoyed at St. Therese was serving as lector at Mass. She took her obligation to serve in this ministry very seriously and always carefully practiced each reading. She even found resources (including a website) to confirm the correct pronunciation of obscure terms. Her clear, simple, non-theatrical style earned her a regular place in the lector rotation at St. Therese and she was often asked to read at the parish Easter Vigil. At the Mass celebrating her mother's 100th birthday where she was a lector, a visiting Maryknoll priest in attendance told her something she quietly treasured (and was known by others only because they overheard him) that she was "the best lector he had ever heard." Of course, her children had already long recognized her talents as a reader from the hundreds of hours she spent reading them stories before bedtime (a practice that they all believed gave them a huge advantage in verbal aptitude throughout their early years of schooling!).

Mary Helen was also a devoted daughter and niece, taking care of both her elderly mother and aunt throughout their long lives (both lived to be 103). When she wasn't spending hours on the phone with them or for them, she was often spending hours in the car driving back and forth to Medford to help them in person. She did this all while she was so busy working, caring for her family, and helping at her Parish.

Although Mary Helen's family hoped she would enjoy the same longevity she inherited from both sides of her family (her father's mother also lived to be 103), she suffered many health problems in her life. She contracted polio as a young girl and in high school had to have emergency surgery to remove an ovarian cyst that raised doubts about her ever having children. In later life she suffered -- but did not succumb to -- cancer five times, first breast cancer (in 1989, 2001, 2007 and 2022) and finally uterine cancer (in 2024). In the end, it was avoidable causes (not incurable cancer) that finally overwhelmed her health.

Mary Helen is survived by her children, Lori Ann (Paul) Grzelak of Bourbonnais, Illinois, Mark Froeba of New York, New York and Paul Wrycha of Madison; by her stepchildren Ray (Patti) of Rhinelander, James (Jacquelyn) of Snohomish, Washington, Sandra (Timothy) Kipp of Shorewood, David (Gloria) of Sobieski; by her brother Mark Tominac of Randolph, New Jersey, by her twelve grandchildren, and by her many great grandchildren. Those who preceded her in death include her parents, Matthew and Erna Tominac, her first husband, Norman Froeba (and all his siblings), and her sister-in-law, Mary Tominac.

Services will begin at John J. Buettgen Funeral Home with visitation and recitation of the Rosary on Friday, April 11, 2025, from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM and continue at St. Therese Catholic Church in Rothschild on Saturday, April 12, 2025, with visitation from 9:30 AM until the Holy Mass at 11:00 AM. Recitation of a second Rosary will precede Mass. Burial will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery. John J. Buettgen Funeral Home is assisting the family at this time. Online condolences can be expressed at www.HonorOne.com.