Michael Brian Helgeson

Michael Brian Helgeson

Michael Brian Helgeson, 52, of Plainfield, IL transitioned peacefully into the next life surrounded by his loving wife and children at 4:12AM on Monday, December 21, 2020 at Edward Hospital in Naperville. Mike fought a valiant battle against Retroperitoneal Liposarcoma for over two years. Cancer took his body from this Earth, but as his spirit remains within us, we will continue to speak of him in the present tense.

Born on June 6, 1968 in Neenah, WI to Leslie Walton Helgeson, Jr. and Mary Kathleen "Maureen" Helgeson, Mike graduated from Schaumburg High School in 1986. He obtained his degree in Nuclear Engineering from University of Wisconsin at Madison. Mike later obtained a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from North Central College, and spent over 18 years as a software developer for the Optum division of United Health Group, where he made lifelong friends. 

Mike created a large loving family with his best friend, soulmate, and wife of 8 years (although it took him 6 years to propose), Linda, and his treasured children Colin, 27, Kayleigh, 25, Mackenzie, 21, and Aria, 7, who are his greatest joy and source of pride.  He is also an incredible step-father to Sarah Bakshis, 23, and Noah Bakshis, 21. Mike also welcomed into his home as two more sons Joseph Dench (fiancé of Sarah), 26, and John Sullivan (partner of Mackenzie), 22. He deeply loves his parents Les and Maureen, his brother Mark, sister-in-law Ana, and nieces Sarah and Amy. He is a beloved son-in-law to Thomas and Patricia Svoboda, and to Michael and Jennie Madsen. Mike shares his three oldest children with their mother, Michelle Madsen. Michael is now joyously uniting with his infant sister, Diane Helgeson.

Mike’s favorite days are spent watching Badgers football or basketball and playing games on his tablet in his recliner. He loves all things cheese, Portillo’s double cheeseburgers (plain), Diet Coke, Rush, Star Wars, Family Guy, and every good or bad dad joke. Ever the genius, he also does math ‘just for fun’. Mike has a twisted sense of humor, which is why Linda fell so deeply in love with him and will remain so for the rest of her life. He likes playing poker with his work friends, and playing Blackjack (although he ‘hits’ way too often). He hates spending money and will probably not like that Linda spent money on an obituary. He led us on great family cruises to the Caribbean, and one his favorite moments was taking a helicopter to land on an Alaskan glacier and getting to see the whales. He loves us all deeply, always putting his family first. He is the greatest man we have ever known. 

Because his time here was so cruelly cut short, Mike left a lot of dreams still unrealized. While we will never be the same without him here, we will honor him by fulfilling those dreams for him. Everything we do, we will do it for him.  

We would like to thank the doctors and incredible nursing staff at Edward Hospital in Naperville and the Edward Cancer Center in Plainfield, as well as Dr. Samuel Singer at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York. They gave him the gift of time.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Sarcoma Foundation (www.curesarcoma.org) are appreciated, so that others may be saved from this relentless disease.

Due to COVID-19, no funeral services will be held at this time. A Celebration of Life  gathering will be scheduled for a later date. 

To celebrate Mike's life, her family invites you to visit the “Condolences” and “Photos” sections of this memorial to leave a message or memory or to upload a photograph.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Michael Brian Helgeson, please visit our floral store.