Helen I. (Mahaffey) Grosenbacher

          Helen I. (Mahaffey) Arnold Grosenbacher, 97, of Rush Township, died on Thursday morning of April 28, 2022, at Community Hospice Truman House, following a period of declining health. She was born at home in Tuscarawas County on March 22, 1925, to the late Roy and Bessie (Schupp) Mahaffey. She attended the Uhrichsville High School until the age of sixteen when she stopped her schooling to go to work cleaning houses. She also worked for the Hercules Factory in Canton during the war, manufacturing munitions for the military. When the war was over, Helen and her husband W.R. “Bob” Arnold, to whom she married on September 26, 1944 and preceded her in death in 1965, settled in the Rush Township area where she continued to be a hardworking woman. She was employed at the Alsco Factory in Gnadenhutten and was there for seventeen years before she started the best job she could have, which was being a grandmother and babysitting her grandbabies.

          Helen’s days didn’t end when she was done with the workday. Throughout her life she volunteered her time for many different organizations, including the Rush Township Volunteer Fire Dept. Auxiliary for over forty years. She was also a Grey Lady for Twin City Hospital and helped at the Dennison Depot with feeding the troops during the war.

         In her free time, she enjoyed reading Amish fiction, playing cards and scrabble, putting puzzles together, camping, fishing, and going to many, many yard sales with her sister Norma, over 200 in the year 2021.

         Surviving are Helen’s daughter Renee (Rick) Poland of Rush Township, a son-in-law Foster Roth of Tuscarwas, four grandchildren: Jeff (Jill) Roth, Robert (Nichole) Roth, Lori McGlothlin (who, according to her grandma, never does anything wrong), and Travis (Tiffany) Poland (her scrabble buddy whom she loved to beat); a granddaughter-in-law Kendra Poland, eleven great-grandchildren: Ashley, Kaitlyn, John, and Heather McGlothlin, Kimberly and Joseph Simmerman, Brooklyn, Kael, and Brinley Poland, Brittney and Rebecca Roth; four great-great-grandchildren: Berklee, Kallen, Jana, and Domynyk; her one and only sister Norma Steele (her yard sale buddy and best friend), many nieces and nephews, and her faithful canine companion Misty.

         Along with her parents and husband, Helen is preceded in death by a daughter Carole Roth, two brothers: Howard Mahaffey and Harold Mahaffey who was an infant; brother-in-law Malcolm Steele, a beloved grandson Chad Poland (who really was her favorite), many other brothers- and sisters-in-law, and several nieces and nephews.

        In following Helen’s wishes, private services will be held with her grandson, Travis presiding. In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to Rush Twp. Volunteer Fire Dept., 4654 Rush Church Rd SE, Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683, or to Community Hospice, 716 Commercial Ave. SW, New Philadelphia, Ohio 44663.

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