Helen M. Decker, 98, of West Deer Township, passed peacefully in her family home on Thursday, February 19, 2026.

She was born on July 17, 1927, daughter of the late Edward and Helen Miller of Brighton Heights, and was raised in a home she only ever described as tender and loving. She often recalled her years at St. Cyril of Alexandria parish and school, where her family was actively involved. Her favorite subject was English, and she played basketball in junior high. She also danced at the Mamie Barth dance school on Liberty Ave. in downtown Pittsburgh for many years. She remembered the impacts of the Great Depression, though her family fared relatively well given her father's steady job as a purchasing clerk with the railroad. Her primary means of transportation during these years were her own two feet and the streetcar. She graduated from Oliver High School along with her lifelong best friend Margie Behrhorst.  She then graduated from Robert Morris School of Business, Pittsburgh.

Oliver was essentially a girls' school during most of her time there, and she told of how the Prom was canceled given that all the boys were at war. She worked through high school three nights a week as a switchboard operator for Bell Telephone. She was introduced to her late husband, "Roy", by his brother. The two were married in 1950, and they honeymooned in Virginia Beach. In their early years they enjoyed square dancing together. She worked in various office jobs including at the P&WV Railroad, Hancock-Daub food broker, York Air Conditioning, Allegheny Ludlum Steel (her favorite job; she worked on the 25th floor of the Oliver Building), Babcock Coal & Coke, and Limbach Co. (the HVAC and mechanical contractor that worked on the Civic Arena). She left the workforce for several years to care for her family after the birth of her first daughter. When she returned to the workforce, she worked for J.T. Baker Chemical, Contraves Goerz, and finally Germain Lumber Co. in Aspinwall, where she worked for 20 years.  She cared for her grandchildren after her retirement.  She was born and raised in Brighton Heights, lived in Bellevue as a newlywed, moved to Penn Hills, and finally settled in West Deer Township in 1968, her home of 58 years.

She was a devout Christian. She spent time in quiet prayer and read from the scriptures and a daily devotional book every night before bed until her last. She made many friends at her Wednesday morning Bible study that met at the King's Restaurant on Route 8 among other venues. Her greatest joys in life were her three beautiful daughters, her grandchildren, and her great-grandchildren. She was very proud of all of them and loved them dearly.

Helen was a working woman, a caring homemaker, an avid traveler (her favorite adventures were to Holland, Germany, and Hawaii), and a generous giver—with a healthy helping of dry wit and sarcasm to boot. She was a classy and proper '40s woman who loved a matching Talbots outfit and could never leave the house without curled hair and lipstick. Her taste was simple and elegant. She was never one to miss an opportunity for a shopping trip, a dinner out, a family vacation, or a sweet treat (ice cream especially). In the words of her late husband, "If the car was running, she would want to be in it."

She took great care of her family and home - washing dishes, folding laundry, ironing, sewing any garment left for her on the table, and packing well over 4,000 lunches for her grandkids - all of this well into her early nineties. She was always ready with a compliment or soft word of encouragement. Around the house, she was also the local English grammar and spelling extraordinaire and regularly helped her grandkids with their homework. She was an avid watcher of Jeopardy with her late husband, and the two held a friendly running competition as they watched. She completed innumerable crossword puzzles, and was a skilled card player, her favorites being 500 rummy and bridge. She loved to wear a fluffy red robe and fuzzy slippers around the house and was never too far away from a blanket. Unrelated to all of the above, she loved Woodstock (the little bird from Peanuts).

Helen was extremely generous. It was her love language. She knew the favorite candy bar of everyone who frequented her home and would always make sure you got one before you left. At Christmas time, she had a habit of overstuffing stockings to the point that they needed to be removed from the mantel hook. She never missed church service without cause, not even the Sunday before her passing, and simply could not enter through the chapel doors without cash in her purse to give. She sponsored every single Sunday brunch thereafter.

Her generosity extended far beyond her church and immediate family. Her family did a quick look through her drawers and found them stuffed full of complimentary address labels sent back from such varying organizations as the Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Paralyzed Veterans of America, USO Pathfinder, Wounded Warrior Project, Covenant House, St. Labre Indian School, St. Joseph's Indian School, Christian Appalachian Project, Salesian Missions, American Institute for Cancer Research, St. Jude, and Memorial Sloan Kettering. Flipping through old checkbooks confirmed many years of generous support of each.

She was preceded in death by her parents Edward W. Miller and Helen R. Miller, her younger sister Jean A. Miller, and Arthur Royal Decker, her husband of nearly 75 years. She is survived by her daughters Carol (Jamie) Decker, Eileen Van Scoy, and Diane (Kevin) Galbraith, grandchildren Matthew (Shirley) Heylmun, Kristin (Eric) Longhenry, Laurel (Nathan) Baker, Austin Aja, Christopher (Samantha) Galbraith and Kelli (Joshua) Bechtold, and great-grandchildren Micah Stepien, Wyatt Stepien, and Paige Baker.

We can only hope that the Lord's table has the finest desserts. Her family and friends thank Him from the bottom of their hearts for sharing such a beautiful woman with us all for 98 years.

Friends and relatives are invited to attend visitation 6 to 9 pm, Thursday February 26, 2026, at Adam Siemianowski Funeral Home, 179 Starr Road, Russellton, 15076.  Funeral service will be held 10 am, Friday, in the funeral home, with Pastor Mike Brownfield presiding. Helen will be laid to rest next to her beloved husband, Arthur, at Deer Creek Cemetery, Harmar Township, following the service. In addition to or in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Crosspointe Church, 2581 Freeport Road, in Harmar.  For online condolences, please visit, www.westdeerfuneralhome.com