Chrisoula Karagunis "Goldie" Helgens

1934 - 2023

Chrisoula "Goldie" Karagunis Helgens, 89, Cedar Rapids, died peacefully on July 2, 2023. Visitation: 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, July 6, 2023, with Trisagion Service at 7 p.m. at Murdoch-Linwood Funeral Home, Cedar Rapids. Funeral Service: 10 a.m. a.m. Friday, July 7, 2023, at St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church, Cedar Rapids. Goldie was born on Jan. 2, 1934, to Peter and Eftihia Papageorge Karagunis in Milwaukee, Wis. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in science. She married Darrell Helgens on July 22, 1961. Following graduation, Goldie taught a variety of high school science classes including chemistry, physics, and home economics science in Milwaukee, Bermuda and Iowa. She was a 50-year member of the PEO Sisterhood and St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church. She enjoyed golfing, bridge, knitting and sewing, shopping, as well as a good martini and cheering on the Iowa State Cyclones. She loved her family and friends, always dressing fashionably for any and all occasions, and being Greek. Anyone who met Goldie knew how proud she was of her Greek heritage. She will be dearly missed. She showed the deepest love and commitment to her three daughters and their families: Dr. Terry and Heidi Sarantou, Marina and John of Charlotte, N.C., Dr. Ronald and Jana Rittgers, Alec, (Bailey), Blake and Owen of Durham, N.C., and Christ and Dena Angelos, Pericles, Constantine and Sophia of Edina, Minn., and her goddaughter Julie (John) Frank of Cedar Rapids. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews and was preceded in death by her husband, parents, and beloved sisters, Aristia Ann Schlesinger and Constance Wells. The family would like to thank Drs. Stahlberg and Hollenbeck, and their teams, along with the entire staff at Cottage Grove Place, for their loving and compassionate care. Memorials may be made to St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church. Please share a memory of Goldie at www.murdochfuneralhome.com under obituaries.