Helen Loble

# Overview

**Helen Marianne Loble** (neé **Gunderson**, formerly **Mackey**) is the wife of Bruce Loble Jr., mother of Isaac and Abigail Loble, and the stepmother of Benjamin Gary Loble. She currently works as an accountant at Bernard Financial Services LLC and spends her free time gardening, assisting in church activities, and harassing her daughter Abby.===Early Life===
Helen was born on May 21, 1965 to Donald and Elsie Gunderson. She had two older brothers, Donald Jr. “Donny” and Pete Gunderson. She had another older sibling, a sister named Beth, who was stillborn in 1960. Her father Donald Sr. was a carpenter and owned his own carpentry business, while her mother Elsie was a schoolteacher. The family lived in Liberty, Missouri, just north of Kansas City, in a small White House near the downtown area.

As the youngest child and only daughter, Helen was spoiled by her parents, especially by her father, who bought her everything she wanted, including college tuition, a new car on her 18th birthday, and her own special bedroom built onto the family’s small house. Helen was born six weeks early and was a sickly baby. She almost died from pneumonia at just two years old. She would remain weak and fragile throughout her childhood, being underweight and prone to illness and severe coughing fits. As a result of her parents’ special treatment, Helen grew up very sheltered and pampered in comparison to her brothers, who did not attend college- Don Jr. was expected to stay and take over the carpentry business, and Pete was drafted at eighteen in 1972.

Helen attended Liberty High School. She was a cheerleader, as well as a member of the Student Council. Helen’s high school sweetheart was Richard Kemper, a football player, with whom she attended her senior prom. Helen graduated high school in 1983 with honors and attended Missouri State University, as her father wanted her to attend college and become a teacher.

### College Years and Marriage

Helen attended Missouri State University (then Southwest Missouri State University) from fall 1983 to spring 1987, graduating in four years with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting. She was a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority. Her college boyfriend was an English major named Brian Keane, and Helen stated that she believed they would get married after college, but eventually they broke up after Brian accepted a job in Germany. Helen graduated college in 1987 and moved to Des Moines to work as an accountant.

In 1996, she met Bruce Loble, a chemist, and his young son Benjamin. Bruce had recently separated from his estranged wife Carol and was pursuing a divorce. Helen and Bruce began dating soon after and the pair married in summer of 1999. They purchased a house in Des Moines and adopted a Border Collie named Molly.

## Personality and Views

Helen is a slightly selfish, opinionated, and ignorant woman. Due to having grown up with her every need catered too, she has never had a real sense of struggle or faced any real problems in life beyond slight inconveniences and disagreements with others. Despite this, she thinks younger generations are lazy, entitled, not working hard enough, and dependent on handouts.

She is currently not on speaking terms with her brother Pete, her sister in law Rebecca, or her mother. She also has a strained relationship with her brother Donny Jr. and his wife Alice, her daughter Abby, and Bruce’s sisters Diane and Elizabeth. Due to her extremely opinionated political views, she will get into heated arguments with family members on topics such as whether or not the 2020 election was stolen. During a massive fight during Thanksgiving dinner in 2021, Helen got into a shouting match with Pete and Rebecca about the COVID-19 pandemic and the Biden presidency. This was the source of her feud with Pete’s family; she is currently not speaking to her mother over her mother’s abandonment of Christianity, she is critical of Abby over her lack of adherence to strict house rules and Christian living, and she greatly disapproves of Donny Jr. due to his marriage to a Jewish woman.

Helen is a devout Christian. Unlike her husband Bruce, she is not Catholic, but attends a Lutheran church. Helen has some admirable qualities, such as her love for her children (despite her obvious dislike of her only daughter Abby) and her deep knowledge of gardening and herbal medicine. She is also very devoted to volunteering and works weekly at a food pantry. She is also quite caring towards her husband despite the points of contention in their marriage. Helen is very religious and despite her ability to hold grudges, she tries to live out her Christian faith through good works like donating, volunteering, and attending church.

## Appearance

Helen has always been small and sickly looking. She is rather frail and underweight; she has a frighteningly fast metabolism due to her hyperthyroidism. She is about five feet and five inches tall, and has blue eyes and blonde hair. Her hair has begun to gray slightly, so she colors it every couple of months. She dresses in plain jeans, sandals or sneakers, t-shirts, and cardigans.

Helen’s Professional HeadshotHelen’s Facebook Profile Photo