Helen M. Briggs

Helen M. Briggs, 90, Topeka, and formerly of Olpe, Kansas, passed away Sunday, December 20, 2020 at McCrite Plaza in Topeka, Kansas.

Helen M. Diebolt was born in Olpe, Kansas on January 7, 1930, the daughter of George L. and Mary J. (Wendling) Diebolt.  She married John D. Briggs in Olpe, Kansas on June 19, 1954.  John died May 12, 2006.  Helen is survived by her children;  Gregory Briggs, Judith Briggs, and Mary Smith, sister; Dorothy Didde, and grandchildren;  Wes Smith, and Allison Forese.

She was preceded in death by a son; David, and brothers; George and Jerome Diebolt.

Helen worked as a clerk in the grocery store in Olpe early on, the later she worked as a claims processor for John Morrell and in the finance office at Forbes Air Force Base, both in Topeka, and was a bookkeeper and prepared taxes in Ottawa.  She also worked on the 1980 and 1990 U.S. Census. She was a graduate of St. Joseph High School, Olpe, Kansas and attended Kansas State Teachers College (Emporia State University), in Emporia.

She was raised a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, Olpe, and was later a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Ottawa, and St. Paul’s Catholic Church, Olathe.

The family will receive friends at the St. Joseph Catholic Church, Olpe, Kansas on Tuesday, December 29, 2020 at 10:00 A.M.  The Rosary will be recited at 10:30 with the Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 A.M. Burial will follow in the St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery, Olpe.

Memorials have been established with Saint Joseph Catholic Church (Olpe), the American Cancer Society, or Midland Hospice Care (Topeka) with contributions sent in care of Roberts-Blue-Barnett Funeral Home, PO Box #175, Emporia, Kansas 66801

Condolences may be sent to the family online through the funeral home website;  www.robertsblue.com