Helen Quirk

Hastings resident, Helen A. (Anderson) Quirk, 89, of 408 Forest Blvd., died Wednesday, June 14, 2006 at her home after a long illness.

Services will be Mon., June 19 at 11 a.m. at First St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Hastings, with Assoc. Pastor Adam White officiating. Burial will be in Parkview Cemetery, both in Hastings, Nebraska.

Mrs. Quirk, the only child of Andrew S. and Marie (Martinson) Anderson, was born Dec. 1, 1916 in Alsen, SD. A 1938, graduate of the University of South Dakota, Vermillion with a degree in sociology and psychology, she earned her masters degree in social work at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. In 1939, Mrs. Quirk was among the first group of social workers hired by the newly organized South Dakota Dept. of Child Welfare at Huron and surrounding counties. She transferred to Deadwood and served the Black Hills area from Deadwood to Hot Springs. For two years during World War II, Mrs. Quirk was employed by the American Red Cross as a social worker and Field Director at U.S. Army hospitals. She rejoined the SD Dept. of Child Welfare following the war. Helen Anderson and John P. Quirk were married Dec. 7, 1946 and moved to Hastings two years later when a business partnership with Kenneth Morrison was formed to operate a alfalfa dehydration plant east of the city. John P. Quirk died in 1969. In 1974, the Morrison Quirk holdings were divided and Quirk Land & Cattle Co. was formed with Mrs. Quirk serving as the company's secretary/treasurer, an office she held until April 2006. Mrs. Quirk took over active management of her Anderson family farm operations in southeast South Dakota in the late '60s. She devoted much time and resources to the historical restoration and preservation of her childhood home and farmstead. The farmstead is listed in the National Historical Preservation Register and is the site of South Dakota's first grain silo. Mrs. Quirk's efforts to maintain and preserve the original barn were featured in the PBS production "Barn Again", a popular television broadcast shown repeatedly since its production. Mrs. Quirk served on the board of the Hastings Public Library for ten years and was a chairman of the Trustees Section of the Nebraska Library Assn. She was Home Service Chairman for the Adams County Red Cross for many years. A member of First St. Paul's Lutheran Church, she served as a Stephan minister. Mrs. Quirk was also a member of Chapter G, P.E.O., Fortnightly Study Club and Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.

Mrs. Quirk was preceded in death by her parents and husband, John P. Quirk.

Mrs. Quirk is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Mary Quirk and James Anderson, Minneapolis, MN.; her son and daughter-in-law John A. and Deb Hardin Quirk, Hastings; two grandsons, Andrew "Rob" Quirk, Hastings, and Erik Anderson, Minneapolis; and her niece and husband, Marilyn (Hawkinson) and Jorge Obregon, San Diego, CA.

Memorials are directed to the Hastings Public Library Foundation, First St. Paul's Lutheran Church, or the Adams County Chapter of the American Red Cross.

VISITATION: Sat. 6-17-06; 9am-5pm at the funeral home
Sun.6-18-06; 1pm-9pm at the funeral home
Visitation with the family Sun. 6-18-06; 4pm - 7 pm at 408 Forest Blvd.