HELEN M. JERIS

Age 99, of Parma, Ohio, entered into eternal rest on Sunday, October 24, 2021. She was born in Victor, Colorado on May 6, 1922.

Beloved daughter to Joseph Perencevich and Anna Goles. Dear sister of Anne Fisher Badovinac, Nicholas Fisher and Elmer Fisher, all originally of Cleveland, Ohio. Loving aunt of MaryAnne McGinn of Ballwin, Missouri, Nicole Fisher Schimmenti of Gilbert, Arizona, Mark Fisher of Gilbert, Arizona, Barbara Fisher Hanify of Belmont, Massachusetts, and David Fisher of Cleveland, Ohio. She is also survived by nine great nieces and nephews.

Helen was married to the love of her life, Thomas A. Jeris, on November 24, 1945. The couple lived in Cleveland, Ohio until her husband’s death on May 4, 1965.

Helen’s parents, married in 1913, were Croatian and migrated from Carniola, Austria-Hungary to Victor, Colorado in 1907 and 1912. The family moved to Kelly Avenue in Cleveland when Helen was three years old. Helen attended Kay School Elementary, Wilson Junior High School and John Hay High School. Helen’s father worked in the W.S. Tyler factory and ultimately moved the family to East 47th Street which Helen described as a “most beautiful street.” Since college was beyond the reach of the family, Helen worked for Higbee’s Department Stores until she was eighteen.

With the winds of war, Helen sold war bonds at the store and ultimately joined the Army in 1944 when she was twenty-two. As a private first class, after basic training in Iowa, she was assigned to barracks in Dayton, Ohio. She learned and performed accounting and bookkeeping for the Army during her two-year stint.

After the war, Helen and her husband moved to Parma, Ohio. As a result of proficiency gained in the Army, Helen qualified for a position in the Ohio County Court system, where she excelled and took steady promotions during her resulting career.

During the post-war period, Helen and her husband devoted much of their time to St. Nicholas Church and later to St Charles Borromeo Church in Parma.

Throughout her life, Helen Jeris remained committed to her country and her church. She followed closely the lives of her nieces, nephews and their children and remained keenly interested in public affairs and the world around her. Her sense of humor and quick mind gave the impression that she was much younger than her years. She brought wisdom and a wealth of her experience to her family, a loving and supportive commitment to their lives. In her 100th year, she will be remembered as a woman for all seasons and the matriarch of an appreciative and devoted family.

Family will receive friends at the Mallchok Funeral Home, 5660 Ridge Road, Parma, Ohio on Wednesday, October 27, 2021 from 2 – 6 p.m. Prayer Services Thursday, October 28, 2021 at the funeral home at 9 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial St. Charles Borromeo Church at 9:30 a.m. Interment will follow with military honors at Calvary Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Helen's memory can be made to St Charles Borromeo Church, 5891 Ridge Road Parma, OH 44129.

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