Helen Jean Meinhardi Arntz

Helen Jean Meinhardi Arntz was a woman whom everyone seemed to know in the community where she made such a significant impact the community she called home throughout her long and fruitful life. She was described as vivacious and sparkling and accurately so since if she was around, one was sure to know it. Helen was a savvy businesswoman well before her time and in many ways, a pioneer for women in the business world. She advised women to be passionate about their dreams and certainly exemplified that notion as it was not uncommon for her to put in 20 hour days in a seven day work week. With a deep love for her family, Helen was both gracious and humble in regards to her accomplishments, but she was also so very proud of where she came from. Life will never be the same without Helen here, but the Muskegon community will be forever changed for the better because she was. Although WWI was escalating overseas in the year 1917, President Woodrow Wilson planned for America to remain neutral, declaring that America was too proud to fight. This proclamation would prove to be short-lived, however, since we began sending troops overseas the very next year. This was a year of celebration for one young family from Muskegon, Michigan, since they were pleased to announce the birth of a baby girl on June 25, 1917. Helen Jean was welcomed into the arms of her parents, Caesar and Effie (McCrea) Meinhardi, and joined her older brother, Caesar Coonie, in their family. Her father was a pharmacist who owned a drug store in the Lakeside neighborhood while her mother was a practical nurse. Helen was raised in the family home in Lakeside where she learned to play the piano as a young girl. She attended local schools including Muskegon High School where she performed in school plays. From the time she was a teenager Helen stood out from the rest of the crowd. She took and gave elocution classes, which left her with distinctive speech that became one of her trademarks throughout the rest of her life. After graduating from high school in 1935, Helen was ready to take the world by storm. She would have loved to go on to college to pursue dreams of becoming an actress or a drama teacher but since these were the years of the Great Depression, there was simply not the money to do so. Helen felt she had what it took to be in sales, so she accepted a position with the William D. Hardy Company, a department store in Muskegon. After just six years Helen had been promoted to a buyers position, which was a big responsibility and huge accomplishment for a young woman. She later went on to work for Grossmans Department Store, frequently going on buying trips to Chicago, St. Louis, and New York. In 1951 Helen seized the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream of owning her own department store. She pooled her money, along with Adolph Duffy Arntz, and purchased a small neighborhood store in Lakeside. In doing so, Helen single-handedly changed Muskegons business landscape and made history as the first woman to own and operate a local department store. It wasnt completely unheard of for a woman to operate a business of this size during the fifties, but women more commonly owned dress shops and hat shops or perhaps a beauty salon. Duffy handled the behind the scenes work and accounting for Lakeside Department Store while Helen was the face, the personality, and the heartbeat of the store. They sold everything from womens ready to wear fashions to fabric and embroidery thread to mens wear as well. Their store filled a unique need in the community and offered a warm and friendly environment for their customers to shop or even enjoy a cup of coffee. When a fire reduced their store to ashes in 1978, the community lost so much more than a store. Since she and Duffy were in their sixties at the time, they decided they were too old to rebuild. It wasnt just as a business owner that Helen impacted her community, but through her other involvements as well. Although the exact date has been muddled in the sands of time, it was sometime in the fifties that Helen became the first woman to head a committee for the Community Chest, the forerunner to the modern day United Way of the Lakeshore. Since this was so rare for women of this generation, she was simply listed as H.J. Meinhardi in the publicity materials. When it became known that this unknown person was indeed a woman, it certainly caused quite the stir. Helen belonged to the Greater Muskegon Service League, Womens division Chamber of Commerce, and was an active member of Lakeside United Methodist Church. She was also a 75-year member of the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority and was honored by the Quadrangle Club Business and Professional Women as Business Woman of the Year in 1963. It is important to recognize that many of the accomplishments in Helens life were achieved with the love of her life by her side. As they got to know one another as business partners, Helen and Duffy began a long courtship. It got to the point where Helen realized that she didnt want to be without him, and they married on November 5, 1976. Helen was deeply saddened with his death in 1983. Even though she never had children of her own, Helen was very close to her nieces and nephews and their children. In fact, family was an important part of her life. Helen tracked down her relatives from Germany and brought family members together, making several trips there to see everyone. Aside from her community involvements, Helen had a few other interests as well. She possessed an unwavering faith and was always open to sharing not only her faith, but also her knowledge and experiences with the young people at church. Helen wintered in Palm Harbor and Dunedin, Florida, and maintained an active lifestyle well into her nineties. Some will remember Helen Meinhardi for her salt-and-pepper hair that she wore like a crown while others will recall the way she always looked like she came right out of the pages of the latest fashion magazine. All will treasure the way she changed her community for the better by the way she genuinely cared for the well-being of others. The memories Helen leaves behind will never fade away. Helen Jean Meinhardi Arntz died on Thursday, June 9, 2011. Helens family includes her niece, Connie (Bob) Wortman; nephew, John D. (Amy) Meinhardi; niece, Marilyn Meinhardi; several cousins; friends, Bill & Rose Corley and Shirley Onstott. Helen was preceded in death by her husband, Duffy in 1983; nephews, C. Douglas Meinhardi & Terry Meinhardi. Services will be held on Monday, June 13, 2011, 11:00 a.m. at Lakeside United Methodist Church with Rev. Steve Weinberger officiating. Interment at Lakeside Cemetery. Visit with Helens family and friends on Sunday, 2-5 p.m. at Clock Life Story Funeral Home - Muskegon. MEMORIAL: Lakeside United Methodist Church or We Can Do This Company. Please visit www.lifestorynet.com to leave a memory or sign the online guest book.