First Posted: 7/23/2013

Helen Marie (Hodakowski) Pradziad, 87, of Wilkes-Barre, entered into eternal rest on Friday, July 19, 2013, in the Partridge-Tippett Nursing Facility, Wesley Village, Jenkins Township.

Born in Wilkes-Barre, on Dec. 11, 1925, she was a child to the late Adam and Helen (Pudafalski) Hodakowski. She grew up in Hudson and attended Plains area schools. She was a graduate of the Plains Memorial High School, class of 1943.

After graduation, she found employment at Gort’s Fashions, Hudson, as a seamstress for 20 years. She then married her husband, Ferdynand “Fred,” in 1963. Helen stayed at home after marriage to start a family and to raise her three sons. She returned to the workplace later in life, working a number of years as a waitress at the Golden Palace Banquet facility, Parsons.

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Throughout her life, Helen enjoyed traveling. With her husband being in the U.S. Army, she lived in a number of different states of our country as well as overseas in Germany. She fulfilled a lifelong dream by traveling to Hawaii with her son six years ago.

Helen was an avid fan of playing bingo and visiting casinos, both locally and in Atlantic City. She was very lucky at bingo and on the slot machines.

She liked to crochet and very much enjoyed going to the senior center in Plains Township on Thursdays to crochet and socialize with her friends. She loved her family and enjoyed spending time with them during family reunions, holidays and special events. She loved to laugh.

Helen was a past member of St. Joseph Church, Hudson, and the St. Joseph’s Confraternity of Christian Mothers until the church’s closure. She was presently a member at Ss. Peter and Paul Church, Plains Township, and the Senior Citizens Group, Plains Township, until her illness.

Helen was preceded in death by her husband of 22 years, Ferdynand, in 1986; son, Joseph, in 2012; brothers, John, Joseph, Francis and Stanley; and sisters, Irene Stashik, Florence Tempalski and Josephine Kandrac.

Helen is survived by her sons, Francis, Wilkes-Barre, and John and his wife, Jen, Collegeville; brother, Bernard, Pittston; three sisters-in-law; and many nieces and nephews.

Helen’s funeral services were held Wednesday at the Yanaitis Funeral Home Inc., Plains Township. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated in Ss. Peter & Paul Church, Plains Township. Interment followed in St. Joseph Cemetery, Hudson.

Condolences to the family can be accessed at www.yanaitisfuneralhome.com.