Frenette,Helen by redeemeratl

Helen Hope Groteluschen Frenette

March 26, 1951 - October 18, 2025

After bravely battling cancer for several years, Helen Frenette passed away on October 18, 2025, at her Atlanta home with her family at her side. A loving wife, mother, grandmother and friend, Helen brought tenacity, spark and kindness everywhere she went. She often reminded friends and family that “Joy hides in plain sight, if you stop long enough to notice it.”

Helen was born on March 26, 1951, in Lincoln, Nebraska, the daughter of Roland and Joyce Groteluschen. A few years later, the family moved to Kansas City, where she grew up with an unmistakable sense of sturdy Midwestern dependability and grit.

After graduating from Gladstone High School, Helen enrolled at Northwest Missouri State University to pursue her lifetime love of fabric and design, studying clothing and textiles. At NWMSU, she also met her lifetime love and future husband, Charlie Frenette of Tupper Lake, New York. They began their courtship while they were co-workers at the university cafeteria.

After they graduated in 1974, Helen moved back to Kansas City and worked at Halls Department Story, while Charlie moved to Omaha, Nebraska, where he began a career with the Coca-Cola Company that would take them around the world. They married in 1976, and soon moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where Helen worked in creative services for McCann Erickson and then Simmons Bedding Company.

Helen was highly resourceful and creative. She was a talented and voracious sewer, making clothes for herself, her family and friends. True to form, she sewed her own wedding dress. But her skills transcended sewing, as she was equally adept at building shelves, hanging sheetrock and changing the oil of her pickup truck. She could do it all, and often did.

Helen gave birth to their son Zach in 1986 and energetically threw herself into being a full-time mother and cherished friend to many. Starting in 1996, the Frenettes lived in Johannesburg, London and Boston, before returning to Alanta in 2004. Everywhere she lived, Helen established a true sense of belonging and community, making the house feel like a true home within a week of her arrival, while quickly making new lifetime friends. Helen regarded each new home as a launching pad for adventure and exploration. She loved the fellowship of travelling with others who shared her deep curiosity about other cultures, returning from every trip with a deeper understanding of people and the world. If she came across something she found interesting, she was not afraid to climb over a short fence to check it out.

In 2019, Helen was diagnosed with cancer, a challenge she took on with the same vitality and optimism that she had demonstrated her entire life. She not only extended her life years beyond her original diagnosis but also lived those years with vigor and gratitude.

The births of her grandsons Oliver and George brought great joy and energy to Helen. The boys called her “Gogo,” the Zulu word for grandmother. She loved the fact that “Gogo” is more than just a name, but also the spirit of a woman who guides and holds a family together.

Helen is survived by her husband, Charlie Frenette; her son Zachary Charles Frenette and his wife, Jamie Glater Frenette, and their sons Oliver and George; and her three brothers Matthew, Frank, and John. She is also survived by her seven “Frenette Sisters” who considered her one of their own: Cindy, Mimi, Ellen, Pam, Aimee, Andree and Nicole.

PRELUDE

GATHERING

Standing

Welcome in the name of Jesus the Savior, who died and was raised to new life by the grace of God. We are gathered here to worship, to remember before God our sister Helen, to give thanks for her life, to commend her to our merciful redeemer, and to comfort one another in our grief.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of all mercy and the God of all consolation. He comforts us in all our sorrows so that we can comfort others in their sorrows with the consolation we ourselves have received from God. Thanks be to God.

THANKSGIVING FOR BAPTISM

When we were baptized in Christ Jesus, we were baptized into his death. We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

ACCLAMATION

Eternal God, maker of heaven and earth, who formed us from the dust of the earth, who by your breath gave us life, we glorify you.

Jesus Christ, the resurrection and the life, who suffered death for all humanity, who rose from the grave to open the way to eternal life, we praise you.

Holy Spirit, author and giver of life, the comforter of all who sorrow, our sure confidence and everlasting hope, we worship you.

To you, O blessed Trinity, be glory and honor, forever and ever. Amen.

PRAYER OF THE DAY

O God of grace and glory, we remember before you today our sister, Helen. We thank you for giving her to us to know and to love as companions in our pilgrimage on earth. In your boundless compassion, console us who mourn. Give us faith to see that death has been swallowed up in the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that we may live in confidence and hope until, by your call, we are gathered to our heavenly home in the company of all your saints; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. | Amen.

Seated REFLECTIONS

AND TRIBUTES FROM FAMILY AND FRIENDS

Nancy Mansfield

Zachary Charles Frenette

Charlie Frenette

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

Psalm 23 (read responsively)

The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: For Thou art with me, Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

GOSPEL

John 14:1-3

SERMON Pastor Mark H. Larson

APOSTLES' CREED

God has made us his people through our Baptism into Christ. Living together in trust and hope, we confess our faith.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Kneeling or Seated PRAYERS

Let us pray to our Lord Jesus Christ who said, “I am the resurrection and the life.”

Jesus, full of compassion, you consoled Martha and Mary in their distress; draw near to us who mourn for Helen and dry the tears of those who weep.