Helen Julia Kerr

Helen Julia Kerr, 93, of Telford, and formerly a long-time resident of Colmar, passed away peacefully on April 19, 2026, surrounded by her loving family.

Born on March 17, 1933 in Reading, PA, Helen was a daughter of the late George and Marian (Gross) Glueck.

Helen attended St. Stanislaus Grade School, Lansdale.  She graduated from Hatfield Joint High School in 1951. She played field hockey and basketball in high school and was Secretary for her Senior class. During high school she met her sweetheart, W. Forrest Kerr, whom she later wed on June 25, 1955. They were married for 64 years when Forrest passed away in 2019.

Helen and "Forrie" raised their six children at their beloved six-acre family farm in Colmar, PA, where they grew and sold farm-fresh sweet corn, tomatoes, and string beans from their roadside stand. The "Kerrstead Farm" was the site of many get-togethers and family parties over the years where the door was always open to visitors. Helen was a master at making ends meet, and she was constantly canning and freezing vegetables, jarring pears from the backyard tree, and making wild strawberry jam. She was also an excellent cook and baker, known for her many recipes including her vegetable soup, chicken stew with dumplings, fabulous french fries, Christmas cookies and buns, and the 12 varieties of pies she made every Thanksgiving.

Helen furthered her education after high school with an associates degree and was employed as secretary for the principal at Hatfield Joint High School.  While raising children, Helen was employed in the administrative offices of the North Penn School District. Later, she was employed by The Children's Place in Montgomery Mall. She volunteered at many different activities at her children's schools and loved music and sports of all kinds.

Helen was a woman of great faith and was a devout parishioner of St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Lansdale.  At home, she was often seen out on the front porch of the family's farmhouse saying the rosary and novenas.

Helen is survived by six children, Kathleen (late Glenn) M. Rodgers of Lower Gwynedd; William Forrest (Lisa) Kerr II of Harleysville; James B. (Rachael) Kerr of Harleysville; Daniel K. (Dottie) Kerr of Hatfield Township; Timothy M. (Jennifer) Kerr of Potomac, MD; and Helen E. (Christopher) Chappell, of Lansdale. She is also survived by 19 grandchildren: Brian, Brendan, Tara, Kathryn, Isabelle, Christopher, Evan, Liam, Gavin, Gregory, Forrest III, Zachary, Ryann, Justin, Rhianna, Maggie, Vincent, Caroline, and Emma. She is also survived by her brother, James Glueck, sister-in-law Kathleen Glueck, and her two great-grandchildren, Filomena and Ines.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her sister Marianne Thee and husband Nick; two brothers, George Glueck and Lawrence Glueck; sister-in-laws Gail Glueck and Ursula Glueck, and nephew Nick Thee, Jr.

Visitation will be from 9:30-10:45am on Monday, April 27, 2026 followed by an 11:00 am funeral mass at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Lansdale. Burial will follow at St. John Newman Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to either The Lutheran Community at Telford, 12 Lutheran Home Drive, Telford, Pa. 18969 or Caring Hospice at Hopewellhospicefoundation.org .

The entire family is eternally grateful for the loving care she received from the staff at The Lutheran Community at Telford and the Caring Hospice team.