Helen Louise Mutti Accoe

     Helen Louise Mutti Accoe passed away of natural causes January 2, 2025, in Mishawaka, Indiana.

     She was born December 26, 1923, to Arnold and Margaret Mutti, in Wakarusa, Indiana, graduating from Madison Township High School. She married George Accoe on October 28, 1944, in the Canal Zone, Panama.

     Helen and George met at the St. Joseph County Fair when Helen was still in high school.  They dated until George joined the Army Air Force and was stationed in Panama during World War II.  They exchanged over 800 letters until Helen was able to transfer her civil service job from LaPorte, Indiana, to Panama, where they married and lived until 1950.  While in Panama, George and Helen made life-long friends with whom they regularly kept in contact, visiting in Florida, Texas, New York, and Ohio over the years. Helen remembered the years in Panama as “a wonderful time of my life.”

     Upon returning to Wakarusa, George and Helen bought her father’s store, “The Station,” on the corner of Dogwood and Pierce in Madison Township.  They built their house there in 1953 and raised three children.  While George operated the business for 24 years, Helen managed the home front as wife, mother, and homemaker.  She diligently maintained her garden and flower beds every year. The community enjoyed the large bed of red canna lilies every summer which decorated the corner of the property.  Helen was known for entertaining friends and family with large dinner parties and picnics, and was an accomplished cook and pie-baker.  She was active in the PTA and fundraisers such as the Lions’ Club dinners. She enjoyed spending time and chatting with neighbors and friends and was always ready to help with food, favors, or errands.

In 1993, Helen and George purchased a winter home in Sun City, Arizona, and split their time between the two places.  Helen loved the warm winters in Arizona but was always glad to return to her Indiana home. George passed away in 2010 and Helen kept the Wakarusa property until 2022.

     Helen was born and raised on the Mutti farm a quarter of a mile up the road from her residence in Madison Township.  The third of four children growing up in the Great Depression, she developed a strong sense of family, community, thrift, and hard work. She was quite interested in family history and genealogy. A highlight for Helen was a European trip which included a visit to Sornetan, Switzerland, and the church in which her grandparents were married before they emigrated to the United States. She always loved listening to music from her childhood, when relatives would gather at the family farm and play Schottosche music from Switzerland with a guitar, violins, trumpet, and accordion.  Her father’s violin has been donated to the St. Joseph County History Museum.

     Helen is survived by her three children, Ginny Arguello of Aromas, California, Bernard Accoe of South Bend, Indiana, and Meg Calleo-Nelson of Cave Creek, Arizona; three granddaughters, Jane Muir of San Francisco, California, Jennifer Brady of San Diego, California, and Angela Ferris of Phoenix, Arizona; three great-grandchildren, Mackenzie Ferris-Tinker and Kaitlyn Ferris-Tinker of Phoenix, Arizona, and Ian Brady of San Diego, California; and numerous nieces and nephews.

     Helen was preceded in death by her husband, George Accoe; brothers, Charles Mutti of South Bend, Indiana, Harold Mutti of Wakarusa, Indiana; and sister Alice Mutti Loucks Becher, of Stow, Ohio.

     Visitation will be in the Hahn Funeral Home, 505 W. Eighth Street, Mishawaka on January 13, 2025, from 5 - 7 p.m. A  Mass Catholic Burial will be January 14, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Bavo’s Catholic Church in Mishawaka.  Burial will follow at Bremen Cemetery.  Memorial contributions may be made to The Macular Degeneration Association at https://macularhope.org/.

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