July 23, 1923 – Jan. 24, 2014

Helen Lorraine Baker, now Helen Dunkle Samuelson, was born on July 23, 1923 on the family farm in northern Iowa near Rockford. She was the second of two daughters born to Clyde and Ruth Baker. Her older sister Margaret was born two years earlier.

After graduating from high school, she attended Hamilton Business College in nearby Mason City to become a bookkeeper and upon completion found a job at Pacific General Electric. In 1945, she moved to Glendale.

In 1947 she married John George Dunkle, then a Los Angeles County sheriff, and they settled in Glendale. In 1955, their first child Eileen was born followed by a second daughter, Ann, two years later. Throughout these years she worked as a bookkeeper at a number of places, including TOTCO and Shearson.

The marriage ended in 1973, but in 1980 she married Earl W. Samuelson of Van Nuys and they spent the past 34 years together. In 2010, she was diagnosed with Mantle cell lymphoma. After battling cancer for more than three years, she passed away on Friday, Jan. 24.

She is survived by her husband Earl; sister Margaret Hoffman; two children, Eileen Kingsley and Ann Partida; and seven grandchildren.

Visitation will be held Friday, Feb. 7 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Crippen Mortuary, 2900 Honolulu Ave. in La Crescenta. A memorial service will be held the next day, Saturday, Feb. 8 at 1 p.m. at Montrose Church, 2409 Florencita Dr., Montrose.

Memorial tribute on CrippenMortuary.com