Helen Jane (Beckman) Fish was born December 5, 1917, the daughter of Rudolph and Jennie (Brown) Beckman in Buffalo, NY. Helen attended the public schools in Buffalo graduating from Bennett High School. After high school Helen attended Deaconess School of Nursing graduating in 1940. She then secured a position as a Registered Nurse with the Lockport City Hospital near Buffalo. In 1943 Helen joined the US Navy during World War II. While at Shoemaker Naval Base in California she attained the officer rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. After the war Helen married Jeff Bryan Nash on April 6, 1946 in Chicago, IL. Thereafter she moved to her new home on a ranch in West Texas. While in Texas she raised two children, Jeff Patterson Nash and Jadine Jill (Nash) Starmer . While living in Texas she served as the Certified School Nurse for all of Stonewall County from 1953 through 1959. She was later divorced from Jeff Bryan Nash in 1958. After her divorce, Helen attended anesthesia school at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, MA receiving her CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist) designation in 1960. She and her two children then moved to Freeport, IL where she began her 20 year practice as a nurse anesthetist at Freeport Memorial and Savanna Hospitals. In 1966 she married Dr. Gilbert Dudley Fish, a physician and surgeon at Freeport Clinic. After helping put six children through college, her two and Dudley?s four, Helen and Dudley enjoyed being globetrotters traveling to many far away destinations including China. She and Dudley retired to Winston-Salem, NC in August 1987. Dudley predeceased Helen in December, 1996. In 2002 Helen decided to relocate back to the Midwest to be closer to family. Helen Jane passed away at the Oak Crest Retirement Home on December 5, 2010.

She is survived by her two children Jeff (Mary Ann) Nash of DeKalb, IL and Jill (Richard) Starmer of Phoenix, AZ, and her adopted son Robert (Heidi) Fish of Union, IL, and three additional step-children, Dudley (Kathleen) Harrington, Richard Harrington, Peggy Phelps, and eight grandchildren and one great grandchild. She was preceded in death by her husband Dudley, her brother Jack, and her parents.

In lieu of flowers or memorial contributions, both Helen and Dudley strongly believed that such resources would be best spent helping a member of your respective families further their education. They would often say, "Education is a gift that lasts a lifetime." Should you feel compelled to make a memorial gift, please honor their wishes by helping a member of your family further their education.

To send an online condolence visit: www.ronanmoorefinch.com. Arrangements were entrusted to Ronan-Moore-Finch Funeral Home 310 Oak St. DeKalb, IL 60115 (815) 758-3841.

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