Helen Louise Laushey Kinsel, 93, of Lititz, passed away peacefully on February 12, 2018 at Brethren Village Retirement Community. Born October 3, 1924, in Lancaster, she was the daughter of the late Lloyd D. and Alta (Burkey) Laushey. She was married to the late Glenn E. Kinsel for 64 years before his death in 2011.
Helen was a graduate of Elizabethtown College and taught 5th and 6th grade at elementary
schools in Hanover, Manheim, and Roanoke, Virginia for 23 years. As a pastor’s wife, she played a very active role in the life of various Church of the Brethren congregations in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Virginia over the course of Glenn’s 40 years of pastoral ministry. Most recently, she was a member of the Lititz Church of the Brethren and the Rose of Sharon Sunday School Class. In retirement, she volunteered several days a week with Brethren Disaster Ministries. Helen’s travels ranged from family camping trips across the United States when her children were small, to volunteer service work in Nigeria, to co-hosting more than 20 group tours with Glenn to Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. She also loved quilting, knitting, crochet, and embroidery, donating many beautifully crafted items for charitable causes.
Helen is survived by her four daughters: Martha (Marty) Asbury and wife Beth Miles of Tallahassee, Florida; Jean Karn and husband Gene of Medway, Ohio; Lois Griffith and husband Scott of Lititz; and Sharon Dally and husband William of Los Altos Hills, California. Additional survivors include 8 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren who brought her great joy. She was preceded in death by her husband and by her two sisters, Elizabeth Wilkinson and Charlotte Maser.
Memorial services will be take place at the Brethren Village Chapel, 3001 Lititz Pike, Lititz, on Saturday, April 21, 2018 at 11:00 AM. Friends may visit with the family on Saturday morning from 10:00 AM until the time of the service. Interment will be private in Bird-in-Hand United Methodist Church Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Brethren Disaster Ministries, 601 Main St., P.O. Box 188, New Windsor, MD 21776 or www.brethren.org/bdm.