Helen Marie Rangila

Helen Marie Rangila

On Saturday, March 17, Helen Marie (Simukka) Rangila, 85, long time Deep River resident, peacefully departed to finally meet Jesus whom she loved and worshiped her entire life.

Born on September 18, 1932 at the Naselle home of her parents Matt and Ester Simukka, Helen attended school in Naselle and graduated from Naselle High School. She grew up attending the Naselle Assembly of God Church. The Church was a big part of her life until health issues prevented her attendance. Helen was a woman of great faith. She loved the Lord with all her heart. Faith, family and friends were her top priorities.

Working at the old Okie’s store, she met Stanley Rangila when he came in to purchase a pair of “woolies.” They married on January 17, 1959 and began their life together at the Rangila farm in Deep River. They raised two children, Evelyn and David, on the farm. She was a great wife to Stanley and a wonderful example to her children.

Helen enjoyed playing Scrabble and once she discovered scrabble calculators, she became an almost unbeatable opponent. She also enjoyed the Jimmy Swaggart channel and could be found watching it late at night and early in the morning. In her earlier years, she enjoyed doing cross-stitch embroidery. Helen also worked for many years as a Precinct Election Worker at the Deep River and Rosburg precincts.

She was preceded in death by her parents, sisters Sylvia and Elsie and brothers Fritz, Arvin and Ed. She is survived by her husband of 59 years Stanley Rangila, daughter Evelyn Riat (Tony), son David Rangila (Joyce), five grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, sister Mary Saari (Leo), brother Alfred Simukka and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

A memorial service to celebrate the life of Helen Rangila will take place at 1 pm on Monday, March 26, at the Naselle Assembly of God Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, P.O. Box 5014, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5014 (www.michaeljfox.org), or to the Naselle Assembly of God Church, PO Box 26, Naselle, WA 98638. Guestbook is available at penttilaschapel.com.