Obituary for Helana Dee Fitton
Helana Dee Fitton, 84, of Peoria, Illinois, died March 5, 2026, after a short illness. She left this world on her own terms—exactly as anyone who knew her would have expected.
Born October 24, 1941, in Washington, D.C., to Max and Hilda Sones, Helana was smart, genuine, opinionated, and unfailingly funny. She graduated from Peoria High School and earned an X-ray technologist certification from Methodist Medical Center in Peoria, where she built a distinguished career spanning more than 35 years, making lifelong friends along the way.
At Methodist, Helana rose from an X-ray tech to hold supervisory roles and eventually becoming a patient representative dedicated to breast health education and improving patient care. She was honored with a Susan G. Komen service award and was recognized by WEEK-TV as a Hometown Hero for her health education efforts.
Helana met Walter Leroy Fitton of Wee-Ma-Tuk Hills, Illinois, at a ski club event in 1963. They married two years later, and what followed was a 60-year love affair between two people from very different backgrounds who were utterly devoted to each other. They especially loved to dance—ballroom dancers with a fun and easy grace.
Helana had a standing bridge game for decades, played poker with her family after holiday meals, enjoyed Canasta with her girls at The Hearth, spent hours playing Uno with her grandchildren, and played Boggle late into the night with her sister. She also greatly enjoyed golfing and could be found working out at Curves and doing Zumba poolside. Her happy places included the beaches of Union Pier, Michigan, and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic—especially with her children and grandchildren—along with wine country and anywhere with good live music. The daughter of a theater maven, she appreciated live performances—but only good shows from great seats.
Beyond her career, Helana volunteered for Dress for Success and Temple Anshai Emeth and tutored elementary school students in reading. She even sold custom-fitted May bras and Avon beauty products along the way.
Helana is survived by her devoted husband, Walt; her son, Will of San Francisco, and his partner, Steve Middleton; her daughter, Chana of Greenbrae, California, and her husband, Bill Timpson; grandchildren Olivia, a student at UCLA, and Theo, a student at the University of Manchester in the UK; her sister, Roberta Baruch of Oak Park; and her brother, Joel Sones of San Diego. She was preceded in death by her parents, Max and Hilda Sones.
A Celebration of Life honoring Helana will be held at Wildlife Prairie Park on May 17, 2026, from 1 to 4 p.m., with tributes beginning at 2:30pm.
The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made in Helana’s honor to the Women’s Fund of the Community Foundation of Central Illinois at http://communityfoundationci.org or The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America at http://alzfdn.org/donate/.
The Cremation Society of Mid-Illinois Pekin/Peoria is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences may be made at csmico.com
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