Helen (Orvis) Joslin

Marion - On February 13, 2023, Helen Louise Joslin, age 85, as gently and sweetly as she lived her life, passed away in her Middle Branch Township home with family at her side. 

Helen, the third of Herbert and Lillian’s seven children raised on the Orvis homestead, was born on December 2, 1937. She was a 1956 graduate of Marion High School and attended Michigan State University. On September 20, 1958, she married her hometown sweetheart, Maurice Joslin, beginning a lifelong and enduring partnership in farm and family life. 

Helen eventually resumed her employment at the Marion branch of the Cadillac State Bank, where she had worked as a teen. Her intellect and attention to detail were especially suited for banking, and her dogged perseverance allowed her to weather the tumultuous changes in the banking industry that took place over the course of her 40-year career. 

However, as demanding as her vocation was, her greatest challenge was yet to come. By the time she and Maurice commemorated their 50th wedding anniversary, she had become his fulltime caregiver. Advancing Alzheimer’s disease left him bed bound and claimed his life six months later. 

A number of years had passed when Helen received an invitation from an acquaintance to go for a car ride. The ride led to a friendship that culminated in a marriage to Melville “Claude” Foster, with whom she was blessed to have nearly five happy years of love and companionship before his death in 2019. 

Helen was generous with her time and talents, fulfilling many community roles throughout her life. She was a member of the Jolly Workers women’s service club, a Girl Scout leader, member of the Farm Bureau, on the township’s Board of Review, president of the Marion Centennial book committee, treasurer for the Marion Area Historical Society, and a member of the Marion High School alumni committee. She enjoyed walking in the woods looking for wildflowers, traveling, genealogy research, attending family functions, and adding special touches to everyday things. 

She is survived by her daughters Loretta (Jack) Schonert and Gina Joslin of Marion and Carole (Ross) Meads of Big Rapids; her grandchildren Matthew (Analisa) and Michael (Caryn) Schonert, Olivia (Alex) Hamacher, Derrick (Rachael) Woiderski, and Kija (Justin), Hayden, and Hanna Meads; her great-grandchildren Rosalyn, Natalie, Thomas, Mia, Mollie, Tobbie, Jonathan, Sophia, Anthony, Cecilia; and three great-great  grandchildren. She is also survived by her brother John (Beverly) Orvis; sisters Margaret and Jean Orvis and Mary (John) Downing; and sisters-in-law J. Beverly Orvis and Cindy Joslin. She was preceded in death by her brothers Claude and Dale, sister-in-law Ruth Ann Pollington, and Maurice’s eight brothers and sisters, for whom she had deep affection. 

Visitation is scheduled for Sunday, February 19 from 4-7pm at the Fosnaught-Holdship Funeral Home in Marion, followed by the funeral service at 11am on Monday, February 20. Interment will take place in Middle Branch Township cemetery in the spring. 

Memorial contributions may be directed to the family for preservation of the Gormer schoolhouse in Middle Branch Township.  Condolences and memories may be shared with the family online at www.Fosnaught-Holdship.com   The family is being served by the Fosnaught-Holdship Funeral Home.  

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