Helen Staley

Mass of Christian Burial for Helen Julia (Polczyk) Staley, 93, of Fairport Harbor, will be at 10:00 AM Wednesday, July 12th at St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Parish, 316 Fifth Street, Fairport Harbor, OH. 

Helen was born December 24, 1923 in Detroit, Michigan to John Joseph and Julia (Mahacz) Polczyk, and passed away July 5, 2017 at her residence. 

Helen grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in Sault Ste. Marie and DeTour. Her mother died when she was three, and she often spoke of how fortunate those who had their mothers were and how much she missed her own. She graduated from DeTour High School in 1941 and was Salutorian of her class, and she was also on the high school basketball team. She graduated from Bay City Business College with the Class of 1942. She then took a position with the government, working for the Federal Security Agency War Manpower Commission Procurement and Assignment Service in Bay City. She later moved to Ohio to be near her sister Joanna (“Jennie”) and married Friend “John” Staley, Jr. on November 8, 1948 at St. Anthony’s of Fairport Harbor. She resided in Fairport Harbor since 1948. She was devoted to her Catholic Faith and a member of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Fairport Harbor. Helen was a homemaker, who dearly loved her family and home. She was devoted to her family and was always there for her husband “John” (who died in 2001), sister “Jennie" Wayner; children, James “Jimmy” (who died in 1964 of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma), Kathleen (Dan) and John Michael (Anita), and grandchildren Jordan, Emma, and Lily. Her family adored her. Her granddaughters spent countless hours with her, learning to play Poker and Pinochle, watching Charmed and Super Nanny, dancing in the kitchen to Conway Twitty’s Don’t Cry Joni, eating lots of Little Debbie’s, and going to Mass. Helen enjoyed reading, baking, playing cards and Bingo, and her yearly Christmas Eve overnight visit at her son's house. She was an avid tennis and ice skating fan. She loved to try her luck with scratch-off lottery tickets and enjoyed casino trips with her beloved sister “Jennie” and nieces Diane and Heidi. Helen also had a fondness for cats and loved her daily visits from Benji, the neighbor’s cat. She was dearly loved and will be greatly missed.  

She is survived by her son, John Michael (Anita) Staley of Mentor; daughter, Kathleen (Dan) Wakkila of Leroy Township; grandchildren, Jordan, Emma and Lily Staley; sister-in-law, Betty “ Staley” Oliver of Cohutta, GA; niece, Becky (Polczyk) Meinke of Curtice, OH; nephews, Robert Wayner, Bud Wayner and Donald Wayner (Diane), and great-niece Heidi Wayner.

Helen was preceded in death by her husband, Friend “John” Staley Jr.; son, James Joseph; parents; brother, Joseph; sister, Joanna “Jennie” Wayner; brother-in-law, John Wayner; sister-in-law, Virginia Polczyk; nephew, Jeffrey Polczyk, and great-niece Laura Wayner Ruvalcaba. Mother and father- in- law; Friend and Mary Jane (McCormick) Staley ; brother-in-laws, Russell, Roy “Red”, Calvin (Ota), Ross (Reba) and Robert Oliver; sister-in-laws, Grace (Arze) Stackpole, Ola ( Earl Cochran), (David Sams), Virginia (Guy Stackpole), (Ray Brenzene), Donna ( John) Siebel, and Myrtle (Lonnie) Balwanz.  Her deceased feline family members; Mew Mew, Tiger, Cleo, and Kitty Cat. 

The family suggests contributions in Helen’s memory to St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Fairport Harbor.

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