Service: 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 11, Runge Mortuary & Crematory, Davenport. Visitation: 4-8 p.m. today and 9-10 a.m. Friday, funeral home.

DAVENPORT, Iowa — Helen Lucille Harkins, 84, of Davenport, died Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009, at Genesis East Hospital after an extended illness, and now we're sure she's in heaven sharing stories with her parents, sisters, brothers, friends and grandson, Chrys Ott.

A luncheon will follow  at Runge Mortuary.

Burial will be at 1 p.m. at Buffalo Memorial Cemetery.

Online condolences may be made at RungeMortuary.com.

She loved to laugh and could talk to anyone. That came in handy as a wife, mom, grandma, great-grandma, friend, neighbor and teacher.

If there's a kitchen in heaven, she's already found it — and will be sharing coffee, pot roast and sugar cookies. Outside, she'll be planting a rainbow of flowers.

Mrs. Harkin was born “in the sticks” in Madison, Mo., the daughter of Francis Barton Ellison and Nancy Martin Ellison.

She moved to Montpelier, when she was five and graduated from Buffalo High School. A year later, she started teaching in a one-room schoolhouse on Muscatine Island.

She married Max B. Harkins June 9, 1951, in Rochester, Minn. She met Max, who later owned Harkins Insurance Agency, when she was a waitress and he tended bar at “the big hall” in Montpelier. They were known for decades as great dancers.

She had a feisty, funny attitude and her middle name reminded many of Lucille Ball.

She spent most of her 41-year teaching career at Monroe Elementary in Davenport, where she worked magic on the “walkers and talkers,” who then shaped up and often came back to visit her. She also charmed students for decades by reading “Little House on the Prairie” stories, which reminded her of her heritage.

A lifelong learner, she got early training at Iowa State Teachers College, then a bachelor's from St. Ambrose College in 1965 and a master's from Western Illinois University in 1982.

She was a member of St. Mark's Lutheran Church in Davenport.

She was active in retirement, volunteering for Hospice, Good Samaritan, Food Pantry and helping family and friends.

She was proud of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who showed up from several states each Christmas for great cooking, lots of laughs, funny shirts and loud talking.

She will be missed by her husband of 58 years, Max; a son, Ken Harkins of Davenport; daughters Ruth Ann Gianneschi and husband,  Tom, Knoxville, Tenn., Anita Harkins of Acworth, Ga.; Lisa Jiran and husband,  (Don) of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; a brother, Harold Ellison of Davenport; a sister, Peggy Owens; granddaughters Casey Calhoun of Acworth, Ga.; Susie  Ford and husband, Guy of Columbia, Mo.; and Jennifer Matic and husband, Ken of Pueblo, Colo.; and four great-grandchildren.