Helgen, Lon Endre passed away Dec. 16, 2025 at age 89 in St. Paul, MN. Survived by son Steve and wife Kathryn Augustine, son Erik and wife Marie McKeighan, stepdaughter Rachel Brown and spouse Peter Watkins, six grandchildren Lila, Oskar, Lucas and Nathaniel Helgen, Elsa and Will Anderson, sister Lanny Peterson, and former wife Judy Helgen. Preceded in death by wife Janet Helgen (2012), brother Bill (Henry William) Helgen (2025), and stepchildren Melissa Brown (1993) and Marshal Brown (2019).
Born Dec. 25, 1936 in Chicago, Lon grew up in Emmetsburg, Iowa where he was active in high school debate, developed his lifelong interest in photography, and camped on all five islands of Five Island Lake. Lon’s father Henry Olani Helgen and grandfather Henry M. Helgen ran an insurance and farm business in Emmetsburg. His grandmother Connie Hedvig Helgen from Norway hosted Christmas Eve dinners with lutefisk and lefse. Lon’s parents Henry Olani (Lon) Helgen and Lavena Branstad Helgen lived in Emmetsburg until they passed away.
Lon attended St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN where he majored in chemistry and sang in the St. Olaf Choir. He and Judy Cairncross married in 1963. Lon earned his PhD in chemistry at Yale University and sang in Yale’s Batelle Chapel Choir and the Yale Russian Chorus. He taught chemistry at American University in D.C. from 1965-1970 where his two sons Erik and Steve were born. He sang in the Choral Arts Society of D.C. Lon then taught chemistry at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa from 1970-1973, an area where his young family enjoyed a peaceful environment after Lon’s health challenges in D.C. and the political upheavals.
In 1974 the Helgen family moved to Minnesota where Lon taught at Golden Valley Lutheran College and then worked as a research chemist. He continued his love of singing in the Minnesota Chorale and Falcon Heights UCC and Plymouth Congregational church choirs. Lon married Janet Brown in 1993 and they enjoyed an active life together canoeing in the BWCA, attending theater and concerts, travelling, and spending time with family and friends on Sanibel Island Florida, in Colorado, and at Deer Lake, Wisconsin.
A memorial service will be held at Lakewood Memorial Chapel in Minneapolis at 10 AM Saturday March 21 with visitation 9 AM and reception following at Lakewood’s Garden Mausoleum. Internment will be at Lakewood and the Helgen family plot in Evergreen Cemetery in Emmetsburg Iowa.
