Our mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, Louise Radke, passed away peacefully in the arms of gentle caregivers at the Homestead Assisted Living facility in Rexburg, Idaho, on Sunday, December 8, 2024. Thelma Louise Helle was born to Sheldon Lyle and Hazel Nelle (Hendrick) Helle, on September 14, 1941, in Savanna, Illinois, a tiny town nestled on the banks of the Mississippi River. She was part of a large and loving extended family of many aunts, uncles, and cousins.  She was also a favorite aunt to her many nieces and nephews who she adored. She loved her idyllic childhood growing up in the close-knit and developing post-World War II neighborhood of Chestnut Park, where she attended grade school and graduated from the 8th grade.  She was a cheerleader and had many friends who remained her lifelong best friends. She attended Savanna High School and graduated as valedictorian of the Class of 1959.  She was always intelligent, bookish, shy, and reflective, and often said that she would have enjoyed being a librarian.

Louise met her future husband, Konrad Radke, at the Tastee Freeze in Savanna, and was smitten immediately.  Two semesters of a freshman year at the prestigious Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, was not enough to keep her away from Konrad and they were married on March 26, 1961 at the First Presbyterian Church in Savanna.  She worked for a time at her father's sawmill doing bookkeeping, and later at the same Tastee Freeze where she had met her husband.  But mostly she was a devoted wife and mother. She always teased that she had five "only" children:  Elizabeth, Lyle, Rex, Andrea, and Ryan, and she spent her life supporting them in their schoolwork, band concerts, sports, piano lessons, church youth activities, missions, college educations, and marriages. As her grandchildren came along, she continued to attend every baby blessing, baptism, performance, and graduation when she could.

A defining event in her life was meeting missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and she and Konrad were baptized in 1963 in Rockford, Illinois. She remained an active member of the Church for the rest of her life, devoting herself to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ through church service and temple work.  She cherished many close friendships with her fellow sisters in the Church. Louise was a caring, wonderful person, and was loved by all who knew her.

Louise was preceded in death by her parents, Sheldon and Hazel, her siblings, Lyle and Harley Helle, and Lorraine Helle McMunn.  She is survived by her husband of almost 64 years, Konrad Radke, of Rexburg, Idaho, daughter Elizabeth (Rick) Valencia of Dayton, Ohio; Lyle (Lisa) Radke of Plano, Texas; Rex (Rachel) Radke of Lehi, Utah; Andrea (Stephen) Radke-Moss of Rexburg, Idaho; and Ryan (Kira) Radke of Provo, Utah; plus 23 grandchildren, and a growing number of great-grandchildren.

Funeral Services will be held on Monday, December 16, 2024, at 11:00 am MST at Flamm Funeral Home, 61 N 1st E, Rexburg, ID 83440. A viewing will be held prior to the services from 10:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Interment will be at the Rexburg Cemetery.

Service will be broadcasted at: https://my.gather.app/remember/thelma-louise-radke