{"id":32458,"date":"2026-01-19T11:58:44","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T18:58:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/?post_type=case&#038;p=32458"},"modified":"2026-01-23T12:45:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T19:45:36","slug":"vijaya-lakshmi-vellanki-age-85-of-helena","status":"publish","type":"case","link":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/obituaries\/vijaya-lakshmi-vellanki-age-85-of-helena\/","title":{"rendered":"Vijaya Lakshmi Vellanki, age 85, of Helena"},"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","class_list":{"0":"post-32458","1":"case","2":"type-case","3":"status-publish","5":"entry","6":"has-post-thumbnail"},"acf":[],"fields":{"first_name":"Vijaya","middle_name":"Lakshmi","last_name":"Vellanki","date_born":"08\/16\/1940","date_died":"01\/18\/2026","age":"85","city":"Helena","state":"Montana","full_obituary_text":"<div style=\"padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/event\/5680385\/embed\/interaction\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; encrypted-media; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>Vijaya Lakshmi Vellanki passed away peacefully on January 18, 2026. She spent her last 6 months with family in Helena, Montana.<\/p>\n<p>Vijaya was born on August 16, 1940 in India. She and her husband Dr R. Rao Vellanki immigrated with their children in 1968. They lived in North Canton, Ohio where they raised their family and were active members of the Indian community. Vijaya loved entertaining family and friends. She cherished spending time with her grandchildren.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband and sons Kishore and Mohan Vellanki.<\/p>\n<p>Vijaya will be missed by many members of her family, including children Roy Vellanki (Padma), Latha Sri Vellanki (Andrew Pida); grandchildren Kevin Vellanki, Nina Pida (Luke McCulloch), Nicholas Pida (Jaycee Hamlin), John Pida; and great-granddaughter Mira June McCulloch.<\/p>\n<p>We would like to thank the St. Peter\u2019s Health Nephrology and Dialysis Clinic for their compassionate and professional care.<\/p>\n<p>A memorial service celebrating Vijaya\u2019s life will be held on January 24, 2026 at 9am at Anderson Stevenson Wilke &amp; Retz Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, we encourage you to honor Vijaya\u2019s legacy with a donation to Special Olympics of Montana or your favorite charity.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Vellanki-obit.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","service_status":"public","event_title1":"Funeral Service","event_date1":"2026-01-24","start_time1":"9:00 a.m.","end_time1":"","location1":"Anderson Stevenson Wilke and Retz Funeral Home","address1":"3750 N Montana Ave.","city1":"Helena","state1":"Montana","zipcode1":"59602","event_title2":"","event_date2":"","start_time2":"","end_time2":"","location2":"","address2":"3750 N Montana Ave.","city2":"","state2":"","zipcode2":"","event_title3":"","event_date3":"","start_time3":"","end_time3":"","location3":"","address3":"","city3":"","state3":"","zipcode3":"","event_title4":"","event_date4":"","start_time4":"","end_time4":"","location4":"","address4":"","city4":"","state4":"","zipcode4":"","event_title5":"","event_date5":"","start_time5":"","end_time5":"","location5":"","address5":"","city5":"","state5":"","zipcode5":"","event_title6":"","event_date":"","start_time6":"","end_time6":"","location6":"","address6":"","city6":"","state6":"","zipcode6":"","event_title7":"","event_date7":"","start_time7":"","end_time7":"","location7":"","address7":"","city7":"","state7":"","zipcode7":"","event_title8":"","event_date8":"","start_time8":"","end_time8":"","location8":"","address8":"","city8":"","state8":"","zipcode8":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/32458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}