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NANCY
COLLINS HENKE TRIBUTE
It is with much
sadness that we report the passing of Nancy Collins Henke on September
11, 2014. It could easily be said that Nancy was the Queen of
all things historical in the Town of Erin and the surrounding
communities with the help of her husband, Evarist. For those of us who
have visited Nancy and Ev over the years, you could spend weeks paging
through 250 binders full of information on Erin, Hartford, Richfield,
Ashippun, and Polk to name a few and from churches and cemeteries to
dance halls and taverns. Their collection of historical information
have often been on display at special events, and some of these
treasures have been donated to the History Room at the Jack Russell
Memorial Library in Hartford.
Nancy and Evarist’s
54th wedding anniversary (along with Ev’s 80th
birthday) was September 10, and her last wish was that her cancer would
not take her before then—the good Lord granted her request, and she
passed away peacefully at Kathy’s Hospice in West Bend the following
morning with Evarist by her side.
Nancy was born on
March 6, 1936, one of nine children of James and Erna Collins. In 1938,
the family moved to a 160 acre farm in the Town of Erin overlooking
Druid Lake. Nancy’s parents were actively involved in St. Patrick’s
Church of Erin holding many positions and Nancy’s mom, Erna, played the
organ for almost 30 years. Nancy would reminisce years later that “a
lot of Sunday’s the parishioners visited longer outside the church than
the actual Mass lasted.” This love of St. Patrick’s and the church
community lasted Nancy’s whole life. In 1955, she volunteered to type
the St. Patrick’s Ladies Altar Society Cookbook over her lunch hour at
work and was given a Rosary for her work. The cookbook was reprinted in
2005 for the 150th Anniversary of St. Patrick’s Church.
Upon graduation from
Hartford High School, Nancy was employed as a secretary. She worked as
an Executive Secretary at West Bend Aluminum for Hartford resident, Paul
Quick, who would say years later that she was one of the most
conscientious and hard-working secretaries he had ever had. She also
was an Executive Secretary at Wacker Industries. After her children
were grown, she put her gardening expertise to work and was employed as
a “transplanter” at Black’s Nursery.
 On
September 10, 1960, Nancy Collins married Evarist Henke at St. Patrick’s
Church of Erin. Daughter, Mary, was born in 1961 and son, Michael, was
born in 1965. In 1969, Nancy and Evarist built a home on Highway 83 in
Erin (also referred to as Thompson), a short distance from St. Patrick’s
Church. Nancy followed in her parents’ footsteps--volunteering her time
and talent at St. Patrick’s as Treasurer, Vice President and President
of the St. Patrick’s Ladies Altar Society beginning in 1979. She also
held positions on the Parish Council in 1972 and 1973 and from 1979
through 1981, and served as the Secretary-Trustee of the Parish Council
from 1982 through the church’s closing in 1999. She received a crucial
liver transplant in the spring of 1999, which saved her life. Shortly
thereafter she was called by then Archbishop Weakland to a mandatory
meeting regarding the closing of St. Patrick’s Church along with Trustee
Frank Weber. There were concerns as to whether Nancy was well enough to
attend the meeting. No concern was needed as Archbishop Weakland
discovered what parishioners knew—Nancy’s strength, courage and wit was
unmatched when it came to her beloved St. Patrick’s Church. Some of us
still laugh when we recall Nancy’s response to the Archbishop’s request
to turn over the bank account of the St. Patrick’s Ladies Altar Society
to the Milwaukee Archdiocese . . . in the end, Nancy prevailed.
In 1996, the Town of
Erin celebrated their 150th year of existence. An almost 300
page historical account of Erin Township was printed and much of the
information was compiled by Nancy. After the closing of St. Patrick
Parish in 1999, a group of parishioners formed a 501©3, the St. Patrick
Preservation Fund in 2000--its mission was the historic preservation of
the church, cemetery and grounds. Nancy served on the Board of
Directors and the Secretary from 2000 until her retirement in 2005.
In 2005, St. Patrick
Church of Erin (although defunct as a parish but still allowed to
celebrate special occasion Masses) celebrated their 150th
Anniversary of existence. Nancy and daughter, Mary Hasslinger, worked
for two years on a beautiful history book of St. Patrick’s from its
founding in 1855 until its closure as a parish in 1999. Nancy was also
instrumental in planning the 150th St. Patrick Church
Celebration, which included a Mass at St. Patrick’s and dinner at the
Erin Town Hall, with almost 200 people in attendance (because that is
all the town hall could hold!) In 2008, she was instrumental in planning
the 150th Anniversary of the St. Patrick’s Ladies Altar
Society with a dinner at the Hartford Golf Club. Even as her health
deteriorated Nancy, with the help of her husband, Evarist and daughter,
Mary, continued her pursuit of gathering historical information on Erin
Township. In November of 2005, she became a founding member of the Erin
Historical Society.
The St. Patrick
Preservation Group will be forever indebted to Nancy for without her
passion, perseverance and hard-work the history of our beautiful Erin
community, historic St. Patrick Church and surrounding areas would not
have been documented for future generations. What a blessing and gift
she was and what a legacy she leaves to all of us . . . Godspeed Nancy
Collins Henke . . .
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