It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved mother, Helen Marie (Yurasits) Lavendoski, on June 18, 2026. She passed peacefully at the home of her son, John, in Pinehurst, NC…at the remarkable age of 100 years and 10 months old!! Helen was born in Northampton, PA on August 20, 1925 to John J. Jurasits (1896-1937) and Rose Marie Milisits (1897-1961), both of whom immigrated from Austria-Hungary by age 16, in search of a better life. She remained in the Northampton area throughout her life, and was a loyal life-member of numerous local institutions, including: Our Lady Of Hungary Church (now Queenship of Mary), the Altar-Rosary Society, the St. Peter & Paul Society (affectionally known as the “Hungarian Hall”), and the Coplay Saengerbund, where she was a frequent attendee at dances well into her nineties. Helen attended Our Lady of Hungary Grade School and Northampton High School. She dreamed of becoming a registered nurse, but the sudden death of her father during the Great Depression forced her to leave school early to help support her widowed mother. Despite having to cut her own formal education short, she was determined that her children would have all the opportunities which education can provide. From early childhood on, she read to us, made sure we visited the library multiple times each week, and was always extremely active in every facet of our schooling. She also worked in several professions (as a press operator at Rodale in Emmaus, a seamstress at the Parmet Co. in Catasauqua, and in the Women’s Fashions department of Clover in Whitehall) in order to provide us with extra funds for college. Family meant everything to Helen, and she devoted her entire life to lift up her children, so that we could share in the “American Dream” to which she, and her parents had aspired. In mid-life, Helen enjoyed church bingo games, the women’s bowling league at Hampton Lanes, and attending large family picnics at the Poconos “Log Cabin” of her beloved sister Rose. Like her mother and grandmother before her, she was a fabulous cook, whose Chicken Paprikash, Cabbage Strudel, Potato Pagachels and Stuffed Kipfels were legendary. Helen also had a lifelong love of music and dancing, starting with the Big Band era of the 1940s and later moving towards traditional Austro-Hungarian folk music & Polkas. Her husband, Stephen, was a professional accordionist for several local bands, and our whole family often accompanied him to various “gigs” around the Lehigh Valley. Late in life Helen was able to travel in Europe, eventually visiting 20 countries with her children and numerous family members. She attended Oktoberfest in Munich, toured Prague, Vienna, Budapest and even returned to the home villages of her parents in Austria and Hungary (Harmisch & Szentpéterfa) to meet “long lost cousins”. On her final European trip, she made it all the way to Rome & the Vatican. 

Helen is survived by her dutiful daughter, Diane of Northampton, her devoted son, John (Kathleen) of Pinehurst, NC, and her faithful stepson, Kerry (Carolyn) of Newland, NC. She will forever be cherished and remembered by her precious twin grandchildren, Esther Rose, and Stephen Thomas Lavendoski. Her memory lives on with her beloved nieces: Patsy (Transue) Guignet & Barbara (Transue) Miller, and on her husband’s side, Ginny (Lavendoski) Durborow & Patricia (Lavendoski) Bitenc; as well as her grandnieces and grandnephews: Patrice, Rodney, Pamela, Lynette, Jodeen, Devon and Will; many Great- and 2nd Great-grandnieces & grandnephews; and a multitude of cousins from the Milisits, Temmel, Stangl, and Skrapits families. Helen was predeceased by her loving husband of 48 years, Stephen Anthony Lavendoski (1918-1998), her infant son, Stephen Keith Lavendoski, her kind & caring daughter, Cynthia Rose Lavendoski (1957-2000), her treasured sister Rose (Jurasits) Transue, her nephew Bobby Transue and her niece Rosalind (Transue) Hill. 

A viewing will be held from 6-8 PM on Friday, June 26th at Reichel Funeral Home, 326 E. 21st St., Northampton, with a second prayer service and procession to church on Saturday, June 27th at 10:45 AM. Her funeral Mass will be held at 11:30 AM on Saturday, June 27th at Queenship of Mary Catholic Church (formerly Our Lady of Hungary) on Newport Avenue in Northampton, just a few houses away from where she and her sister were raised by their parents; with the burial service at the church cemetery on Main Street in Northampton immediately afterwards. A post-funeral luncheon at the Northampton Community Center at 1601 Laubach Avenue, will start between 1 and 1:30 PM. 

Note: No words can fully express how grateful we are to various family, friends, and neighbors who aided Helen over her final years. To all of you who helped care for our mother, especially MaeLynn Campbell LPN, Irene Gollatz, Lynnette Barlip, Stacey Millen, and Scott Fenstermaker: Thank You for being living “Guardian Angels” to our mother!!