Helen M. Minnis was East Hazel Crest’s village clerk for 40 years, as part of a 60-year career working for the village that only ended in January.
“She was very efficient and prompt and did her work excellently,” said longtime Mayor Tom Brown.
Minnis’ lengthy tenure meant she worked for East Hazel Crest for more than half of the entire existence of the village, which was incorporated in the 1910s.
Minnis, 92, died March 6. She had been battling kidney issues.
Born Helen VandenOever in Chicago, Minnis began working for the village in 1965 as an assistant water collector. She was later deputy clerk before becoming East Hazel Crest’s village clerk in 1980.
“She was the world’s best debt collector,” Brown said. “She wouldn’t let anyone get away without paying something if they owed the village.”
Minnis’ service to her community did not end at Village Hall. For years, she was involved in other activities, including serving as part of the ladies auxiliary for East Hazel Crest’s Fire Department and as part of the American Legion Auxiliary.
Minnis also served in the 1970s on the Hazel Crest School District 152 1/2 Board.
“She was totally active in the village in just about every organization we have,” Brown said.
Minnis felt a great love for her small community.
“We’re the best-kept secret in the south suburbs,” she told the Tribune in 1992.
Well past most others’ retirement ages, Minnis kept going strong, Brown said.
“I’ve been mayor 36 years, I was a trustee for four and I was village attorney for four years, and that doesn’t even compare to all the years Helen had,” Brown said.
Minnis last won reelection in 2021, defeating a challenger with 67.6% of the vote. Most election cycles, however, she ran unopposed.
In 2016, officials dedicated a park named in Minnis’ honor in East Hazel Crest, at the northwest corner of Center Avenue and 174th Street.
In January, Minnis retired as village clerk.
Minnis’ husband, L. Dale Minnis, died in 1979. Survivors include a daughter, Dayle Lewis; several grandchildren; two sisters, Cecelia Klinowski and Margaret Diebel; and a brother, Tom VandenOever.
A service was held March 15.
Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
