Gretchen Mary Beth Laden Tselos
1940 - 2025
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Invite friends and family to read the obituary and add memories.
Gretchen Tselos, October 31, 1940 - August 1, 2025
Gretchen was indeed “one of a kind.” She believed in living life to the fullest, on her own terms. She loved music, animals, language, politics, travel, and literature. And her network of friends spanned generations and cultures.
Gretchen was born in Hibbing, Minnesota, to Orpha “Red” Helstein and Hyman Wolfe Laden. Hyman passed away not long after and she was legally adopted by her stepfather, Saul Ernest Halpern and moved to Glen Ullin, North Dakota, where she participated in Girls State. She even met Eleanor Roosevelt on the train. Gretchen wanted to study opera from a young age and studied theater at the Black Hills Playhouse. She always thought outside the box, becoming frustrated in college because she wanted a dual major in English and Agriculture, which, in those days, wasn’t permitted at the University of Minnesota. She graduated with a bachelor of art degree and then became a teacher. Eventually she went on to teach classes about mystery fiction, worked in the press and communications field, including at the Environmental Protection Agency, and even started her own café called Sidetracks in the Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, train station.
Above all, for Gretchen, there was family. She was extremely close to all members of her family -- siblings, children, grandchildren, cousins, great aunts and uncles. She knew that the bond shared by all of her family members was solid, and nothing nourished her soul more than checking in with them and planning the next visit. She relished the opportunity to be together, look through old photographs, and just catch up. Gretchen was fortunate to travel the world quite widely, and made fast friends with all she met. Her extensive friend network and uncanny ability to talk to anyone allowed her to form a genuine connection with most people. And with her deep curiosity about arts, ideas, and politics, she could elevate any mundane conversation and make it memorable.
She is pre-deceased by her mother, Orpha “Red” Halpern, her father(s) Hyman Wolfe Laden and Saul Ernest Halpern and her brother Michael Halpern. She is survived by her sister Mary (Alan) Flint, her son Alexander (Marni) Tselos, her daughter Helena Tselos, her two granddaughters Zoe Rebecca and Gabrielle Demi Tselos, her former husband George Tselos, and many cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, and uncles. She will be missed by all.
Donations can be made to either the Freedom Forum or the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest. Links below.
https://www.freedomforum.org/support/annual-giving/
https://www.jhsum.org/donate
Gretchen was indeed “one of a kind.” She believed in living life to the fullest, on her own terms. She loved music, animals, language, politics, travel, and literature. And her network of friends spanned generations and cultures.
Gretchen was born in Hibbing, Minnesota, to Orpha “Red” Helstein and Hyman Wolfe Laden. Hyman passed away not long after and she was legally adopted by her stepfather, Saul Ernest Halpern and moved to Glen Ullin, North Dakota, where she participated in Girls State. She even met Eleanor Roosevelt on the train. Gretchen wanted to study opera from a young age and studied theater at the Black Hills Playhouse. She always thought outside the box, becoming frustrated in college because she wanted a dual major in English and Agriculture, which, in those days, wasn’t permitted at the University of Minnesota. She graduated with a bachelor of art degree and then became a teacher. Eventually she went on to teach classes about mystery fiction, worked in the press and communications field, including at the Environmental Protection Agency, and even started her own café called Sidetracks in the Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, train station.
Above all, for Gretchen, there was family. She was extremely close to all members of her family -- siblings, children, grandchildren, cousins, great aunts and uncles. She knew that the bond shared by all of her family members was solid, and nothing nourished her soul more than checking in with them and planning the next visit. She relished the opportunity to be together, look through old photographs, and just catch up. Gretchen was fortunate to travel the world quite widely, and made fast friends with all she met. Her extensive friend network and uncanny ability to talk to anyone allowed her to form a genuine connection with most people. And with her deep curiosity about arts, ideas, and politics, she could elevate any mundane conversation and make it memorable.
She is pre-deceased by her mother, Orpha “Red” Halpern, her father(s) Hyman Wolfe Laden and Saul Ernest Halpern and her brother Michael Halpern. She is survived by her sister Mary (Alan) Flint, her son Alexander (Marni) Tselos, her daughter Helena Tselos, her two granddaughters Zoe Rebecca and Gabrielle Demi Tselos, her former husband George Tselos, and many cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, and uncles. She will be missed by all.
Donations can be made to either the Freedom Forum or the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest. Links below.
https://www.freedomforum.org/support/annual-giving/
https://www.jhsum.org/donate
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