Sheila Helm

Sheila (Mirhoseini) Helm
June 1, 1965 – January 15, 2025
Sheila Nahid (Mirhoseini) Helm died January 15, 2025, after a brief hospital stay, at the age of 59. The youngest of five children, Sheila was born in Medford, Wisconsin, on June 1, 1965, to Judith Kay (Hyser) Mirhoseini and Mahmood Mirhoseini. The family settled in Wausau, Wisconsin, when Sheila was four years old. She attended Riverview Elementary, Horace Mann Middle School, and Wausau East High School, graduating in 1983.
She excelled in school, especially in math and science, which eventually led to her decision to study nursing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Sheila graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the School of Nursing in 1987.
Sheila met her husband Thomas (Tom) Helm at UW Health University Hospital in Madison where she worked as a pediatric nurse, and Tom was a resident in pediatrics. In 1989, Sheila and Tom moved to Minneapolis and were married in 1992. They purchased their first and only home near Lake Harriet in Southwest Minneapolis. Their daughter Madeline was born in 1995, and Sarah followed in 1999.
Sheila continued her love of learning and passion for service by continuing her medical education. She obtained her Masters of Nursing Practice (CNP), from St. Catherine University in 2008.
Sheila's career in nursing included working in the pediatric Intensive care unit at Children's of Minnesota, the Minneapolis Public Schools, Shriner's Hospitals and Clinics, and Hennepin Health Care.
Sheila was a tireless advocate for the underserved, often seeking out both work and volunteer positions serving those in need. She chose to work as a school nurse in a high-need school setting where the children's needs often could not be met in the regular school setting. She also worked in home health through Hennepin Health Care, frequently making home visits in the highest need areas of Minneapolis.
Sheila's organizational skills were so impressive. This made her well-suited for the intensive care unit setting where nurses are required to manage multiple medical care issues at once.
Sheila was not only sensitive to the medical needs of others, but she was also a strong advocate for mental health. Throughout her life, Sheila believed strongly in the provision of equitable physical and mental healthcare for children and the economically disadvantaged. She traveled to Guatemala in 2017 with a humanitarian group to provide medical care to children.
Above all, Sheila was a devoted mother to Maddie and Sarah.
Sheila's way of showing her love was often by acts of service. She enjoyed needlepoint and cross-stitch and over the years many family members and friends received gifts of her beautiful work, personalized just for them. Every year, beginning the day after Thanksgiving, she started the process of making Christmas candy, carrying on the recipes and legacy of her mother, spending countless hours in the kitchen. Family, friends, neighbors, and work colleagues were the lucky recipients of caramel, toffee, and peanut-butter cup-filled care packages she mailed or delivered. We all savored each piece and looked forward to the following Christmas when we knew we would receive another expression of her love.
She was highly intelligent and sharp, open-minded, quietly wise, level-headed, and pragmatic, but she also had a wonderful sense of humor, often showing it when you least expected it. Sheila was quiet and introverted but outspoken about the injustices in the world and how we could work to right them. When she began to speak, you knew they were carefully thought-out and chosen words. When her siblings would squabble, Sheila was Switzerland.
Sheila's recreational time was spent with family and friends. She loved trips to the cabin in Canada, and biking trips to many areas of both the United States and Europe.
Sheila is preceded in death by her mother, great-nephew Theo Schlicht, her brother-in-law James Chiroff, and her beloved dogs, Jackson and Punch.
She is survived by her husband Tom; daughters Madeline Helm, Minneapolis, MN; and Sarah Helm, Madison, WI; father Mahmood Mirhoseini, Germantown, WI; sisters Andrea Chiroff, Greenfield, WI; Laura Mirhoseini, Franklin, WI; Krista (Rory) Mirhoseini, Seattle, WA; brother David (Nadine) Mirhoseini, Morgantown, WV; nieces Callie, Katherine, Maeve, Hannah Rose, Holly, Megan, and Paige; nephew Griffin; great-nieces Maeve, Sloane, Ada, and Elena; sister-in-law Molly (Steve) Aichele; brother-in-law Mark (Cathy) Helm, and her beloved dogs, Guster, Spencer, and Dobby.
A Celebration of Sheila's life will be held February 8, 2025, at the Chapel of Resurrection Cemetery, 2101 Lexington Ave. S., Mendota Heights, MN. Gathering and Visitation will begin at 10:00 a.m. with Service at 11 a.m. A luncheon will be held after the Celebration at Patrick McGovern's, 225 West 7th St., St. Paul, MN.
O'Halloran & Murphy, St. Paul, is serving the family. Messages for the family may be left in an online guest book. Memorials in Sheila's name may be made to the Humane Society of Minnesota.