{"id":50718,"date":"2026-11-04T05:52:51","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T11:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=50718"},"modified":"2026-11-04T05:52:51","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T11:52:51","slug":"sharon-rae-lustig-helmink-81-of-montrose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/50718-sharon-rae-lustig-helmink-81-of-montrose\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharon Rae (Lustig) Helmink (81) of Montrose"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p>Sharon Rae (Lustig) Helmink, age 81, of Montrose, Illinois, passed away at 12:53 PM on Thursday, October 29, 2026, at the Willow Breeze Hospice House in Mattoon, Illinois.<\/p>\n<p>Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 AM on Friday, November 6, 2026, at Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Island Grove, Illinois, with Father Juan Carlous Ruiz, OFM, celebrating mass. The burial will be in Saint Joseph Cemetery in Island Grove, Illinois. A visitation for family and friends will be held from 4:00 to 6:00 PM on Thursday, November 5, 2026, at the Meyer Funeral Home in Dieterich, Illinois, and again Friday from 10:00 to 10:30 AM in the Saint Joseph Parish Hall. In loving memory of Sharon memorials may be made to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stjude.org\/donate\/donate-to-st-jude.html?dedication=1&amp;frequency_selected=0&amp;frequency_selected=2&amp;sc_cid=cll103661&amp;source_code=IIQ160703001&amp;memoryLastName=Sharon+%28Lustig%29%20Helmink\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.stjude.org\/donate\/donate-to-st-jude.html?dedication%3D1%26frequency_selected%3D0%26frequency_selected%3D2%26sc_cid%3Dcll103661%26source_code%3DIIQ160703001%26memoryLastName%3DSharon%2B%2528Lustig%2529%2520Helmink&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1793815814740000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3bBRB8I6UfhLoyWxQh2uqO\">St. Jude Children&#8217;s Research Hospital<\/a> or the Effingham Humane Society. The obituary can be viewed and condolences left at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.meyerfh.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/www.meyerfh.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1793815814740000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3xT2bFH_UfbPDXhdFpQ76d\">www.meyerfh.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Sharon was born on June 30, 1945, in Chicago Heights, Illinois, the daughter of Raymond and Esther Kay (Lowen) Lustig.<\/p>\n<p>She married Donald L. Helmink on August 3, 1990, and he preceded her in passing on January 8, 2008.<\/p>\n<p>She was an elementary teacher for over 25 years in both Catholic and public schools.<\/p>\n<p>Having grown up in the city, she quickly fell in love with the animals on the farm.<\/p>\n<p>She was a faithful member of St. Isadore Parish attending Joseph Catholic Church in Island Grove, Illinois.<\/p>\n<p>Sharon shared her faith with others; she was involved with the prayer group and the Cenacle group.<\/p>\n<p>Sharon is survived by-<\/p>\n<p>Nieces and Nephews &#8211; Mark (Trisha) Lustig, their children Rae and Gavin; Mary Lustig (Trevor Bussies), Loren (Ernie) Martinez and their children Lorenzo and Mya<\/p>\n<p>Sharon Taylor, Nancy (Troy) Smith, Carolyn Helmink, David Helmink, Jo Ellen Helmink and their children.<\/p>\n<p>Several great-great nieces and nephews, neighbors and close family friends, including the Kathy Hanson-Bergholz, Lois Hanson and Patti Buonadonna families, and beloved cat Tootsie also survive.<\/p>\n<p>Sharon was preceded in passing by her parents, husband and brother Donald Arthur Lustig and his wife Florence, brother and sister-in-law Charles and Evelyn Helmink and nephew Ronald L. Helmink.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you to Sarah Bush Hospital and the staff at Willow Breeze Hospice for the loving care that was given to Sharon during her final days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sharon Rae (Lustig) Helmink, age 81, of Montrose, Illinois, passed away at 12:53 PM on Thursday, October 29, 2026, at the Willow Breeze Hospice House in Mattoon, Illinois. Mass of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":50719,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obits"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sharon Rae (Lustig) Helmink (81) of Montrose - Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader, 979XFM and KJ Country 102.3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Effingham&#039;s News and Sports Leader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/50718-sharon-rae-lustig-helmink-81-of-montrose\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sharon Rae (Lustig) Helmink (81) of Montrose - 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