Helen Mae Danko & Gary Norbert Danko

When the WHS Alumni Association began looking for information about fellow Warrior, Gary Danko, to share with the Wiesbaden alumni community, it was difficult to find much. But then we found Helen's obituary and it quickly became apparent that Helen and Gary had a great love and a beautiful life together, though tragically short. We realized that... rather than try to bring what we found about Helen into a tribute page about Gary, it would be fitting to bring Gary to Helen's page and have them be together here in this small way. It was Helen's family that brought to life a few heartfelt moments about Gary and Helen that help us know more about Gary's life after his short time at HH Arnold.

Gary Norbert Danko was born in Fort Sheridan, Illinois on March 10, 1935 to Norbert Danko and Lenora B. (Farney) Danko. He had a little brother named Terry, who was born in 1945 in Denver, Colorado. Gary and his family were in Wiesbaden in the 1949/1950 school year. Gary was on the Warrior basketball team. He and his family left Germany on January 15, 1950, in the middle of Gary's Freshman year at HH Arnold. They arrived back to New York on January 24, 1950 and then headed to Forrest, Illinois. In 1951, Gary was attending South High school in Denver, Colorado.



In 1962, Gary headed to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on his way to Peru, where he worked for the Cerro de Pasco Corporation, a foreign-owned Peruvian mining company. In 1969 and 1970, he was living in Englewood, a suburb of Denver, with his wife, Helen, and worked for Atlas Copco, a Swedish-owned manufacturer of industrial tools and equipment.



Gary passed away in February 1973 at the young age of 37. He is buried in Dory Hill Cemetery in Black Hawk, Colorado.



Helen and Gary are buried side-by-side in Dory Hill Cemetery. We'll let Helen's family take it from here...

Helen Mae Danko of Englewood, Colorado passed away peacefully in her home on October 23, 2017. She was 89 years old. Helen was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado on September 4, 1928 to George William Cross and Beuhla Ethel Blair.

Helen was raised in Colorado Springs and eventually moved to Englewood where she did government work at the Air Force Accounting and Finance Center. She finished her career retiring from the U.S. Postal Service Englewood Office as a letter carrier where she was one of only two female carriers at the time.

Helen took karate with her husband Gary and became a black belt in 1970. In 1975, she studied and got her pilots license and flew airplanes with her son Johnny.

Helen and Gary loved roaming the hills and spending time in Moab, Utah with good friends. She loved walking in the park along the creek and by the river with her granddaughter Lisa. Helen was the kindest, sweetest person and always had a smile on her face until the very end. Everyone loved her. She will be deeply missed.

Helen is preceded in death by her husband Gary Danko and son John Gilland. She is survived by her daughters Linda Witt and Ginger Albers; her grandchildren, Jason, Chad, Gabie, Lisa, and Nicole; 9 great grandchildren; and her in-laws, Lynn, Jim, and Lex.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 28, 2017 at 2:00PM at Drinkwine Family Chapel.