Helen Marr Passes Away

My dear, almost 102-year-old friend passed away.  She was also my mother's dear friend.  They were just a week apart in age, both born in 1920.   I am so very sad.  

I didn't know she had passed away.  I guess that makes sense because none of her family knows me, so no one told me. The obituary was published in the newspaper we no longer subscribe to. But I was so sad to find out in such a hard way.  I sent her a Christmas card. Then I sent her a birthday card, but, after several weeks, it came back.  I called the assisted living center to ask why.  They told me she had passed away.  I was so shocked.

I then texted a mutual friend that told me she had heard about it, but that there was no service for her.  She said that Helen Marr didn't suffer long, so that was comforting.  I had just talked to Helen Marr a short while before she died.  She sounded happy and healthy.

I called and visited with Helen Marr frequently, whenever I needed my Helen Marr fix.  She was a such a delightful, positive person.  Here are some pictures of her:

These five ladies somehow found each other in St. George. (I wish I could call Helen Marr and ask the story.  I have forgotten)  They were all born in the same year- 1920.  My mom is in the middle and Helen Marr on the far right.  They were celebrating their birthdays together.  If my memory serves me.

After my mom passed away, Helen Marr brought me these beautiful figurines.  She said they represented my daughters and I and how our mother and her talents live on in us.

This is us with Helen Marr at her 90th birthday party.

Her family put on a big 100th birthday party for her. 

Right to the end, she could touch her toes.

She and her husband and my mom and dad were good friends back in Caldwell, Idaho.  Dad and Wayne, her eternal companion, 
 sang in a male quartet together.  I remember sitting in the living room, listening to them practice when I was just a little girl.  They were good.  They so enjoyed being together.  I remember there being lots of laughter and happiness.

Then, Wayne and Helen Marr moved away from Caldwell.  My mom and dad were delighted to discover that they had moved to St. George when my parents moved here after retiring. They renewed their friendship.  Then Wayne got very ill and passed away.

A few years later, Helen Marr remarried, and they and my parents continued to get together socially.  Then Helen Marr and Carroll- her new husband, moved into our ward.  When I was Relief Society president, I came to rely a great deal on Helen Marr.  I appreciated her kind wisdom and advice.  Though in her 80s, she was always the first one to sign up for work projects. She was amazing.  One very difficult project was that a couple in our ward were killed in a car accident.  Our Relief Society had to go in and clean out their home, donating most of the items to DI.  Helen Marr and I worked side by side for hours.

When I had my knee replaced, Helen Marr coached me through that.  She had had hers done.  She brought me a pair of pants she wore a lot in the recovery time.  "Those will never fit me!" I exclaimed.  As you can see, she was way smaller than me.  "They will.  They will," she said.  And they did.  I wore them a lot.  They were extremely stretchy!

 Carroll passed away and Helen Marr moved several times after that, before ending up in the Meadows assisted living center.  We kept in contact through all those years, visiting her in several different apartments.  When we would visit, she and I would chat while Ken would go through her list of "honey dos," fixing things.

 

How I loved this dear lady.  Where will I get my Helen Marr fix now?  I hope she and my mom are visiting and giggling in heaven together.  I feel sure they are.