Obituary of Louise E. Helm

Born January 6, 1922, in Chicago IL to James Stone Helm and Clara Louise Redheffer, Louise died October 15, 2016, in Tulsa OK. Her mother died when Louise was born; she was brought up by her father and grandmother. She graduated from Muskogee High School and attended Christian College in Columbia MO and the University of Oklahoma, where she joined Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and graduated with a bachelor's degree in social work. After college, Louise worked in airline reservations and earned a pilot's license, developing her love of travel, before marrying Bill Jones and returning to Oklahoma and having five children. As a divorced single parent, she worked for the Department of Human Services in Muskogee, beginning a long career in child welfare, specializing in adoption services. Once all her children had graduated from high school, she moved to Tulsa, where she lived the rest of her life, and continued to bring children and parents together to make new families. Louise was preceded in death by her parents, her adopted brother, Jim, and her youngest daughter, Kim. She is survived by four children, April Stone of Norman OK, Candace Fair of California, Richard Helm of Georgia, and Robert Jones (Joan) of Oregon; nine grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; her devoted friends Maredith Anquoe and Dr. LouAnne Wolfe, as well as a host of other friends who cherished her and will miss her deeply. Louise's death leaves a hole in the heart of our world. She combined a ready wit, a generous sense of humor, a wide curiosity, and an appetite for adventure, even for mischief, with an active conscience and a strong sense of responsibility. Louise lived her life with style: she savored gracious living--elegant clothes, a well-laid table, a busy social life. She loved the ballet, the theater, movies, books, and chocolate. She remained avidly engaged in current events and politics through the end of her life. She kept her mind and heart open, adopting her last companion, the tuxedo cat Baby. Louise was a remarkable person, at once a lady of old-fashioned courtesy and impeccable taste and a woman of intelligence, independence, and strong convictions. Brought up in comfort, she adapted gracefully to the obstacles she encountered later. Faced with hardship and suffering, in her life and in her work, she responded with compassion and hope, offering support to her children and her friends, as well as helping the parents and children she served to form new families and brighter futures. Louise believed in the promise of happiness, for herself and for others. Everyone who knew her remarked on her cheerfulness, which arose not only from disposition but also from discipline, from a personal decision to focus on the pleasures of living, the good in the world, and to foster joy in every life she touched. Her life was long and well lived. Services for Louise Helm will be held Wednesday, October 19, at 3 p.m., at St. John's Episcopal Church, under the direction of Ninde Brookside Funeral Home. In Louise's memory, the family suggests donations to St. John's Episcopal Camp New Hope Fund, 4200 S Atlanta Place, Tulsa, OK 74105. Ninde Brookside Chapel ninde.com 918-742-5556