Helen Fote

1925 - 2010

Helen Fote April 27, 1925 - October 25, 2010 Helen Fote was born in Hartford, AR in 1925 and was raised with 5 sisters and a brother in the back hills of Oklahoma during the depression. She attended local schools there and then went to nursing school in Ft. Smith, AR where she was recruited in 1947 to Delano Hospital in Delano, CA. She hopped the train with another graduate nurse and went west. It didn't take long for a tall strapping deputy with the Delano Police Dept. to eye the striking nurse down the hall. After a whirlwind courtship, he proposed in the linen closet at the hospital and there her life would forever change. She had a long career in nursing, mostly at Mercy Hospital in Bakersfield and was married to the Chief Criminal Deputy for the Kern County Sheriff's Dept. They raised two daughters. A devoted mother, wife and grandmother, Helen was good to all she met, an excellent nurse and mentor to her two nurse daughters and a spiritual soul with a love of gardening and cooking and caring for others. After the early death of her husband, Loren Fote, Helen immersed herself in volunteering, Eastern Star, and traveling with her family. The last 6 years of her life she spent at Rosewood Retirement in the assisted living as her brain and hip needed extra attention. She passed away peacefully in her sleep on October 25, 2010 and is now reunited with a host of friends and family that were gone before her, who we are sure were not surprised to welcome her home including her husband, her parents and in-laws, several sisters and a brother. Left to miss her, are her daughters, Linda Gerber (Tony), Sandi Schwartz (Richard); grandsons, David Gerber (Burcin), Bryan Phillips, Walker Blaylock and Alex Schwartz. Her three remaining sisters, Willa Peters of Springfield, WI; Hazel Crouch of Broken Arrow, OK and Ada Duncan of Salpulpa, OK with the rest of the Hardy clan are left with such love and good memories. Her sister-in-law Sally Fote and her two daughters Gail Heisey and Gina McClothin share in our loss. A huge thank you to Dr. Albert Peinado for his sensitivity and kindness to our mother. Likewise, thanks to the staff at Rosewood Assisted Living and caregiver Sandy at Agape Homecare for their compassion and love. Chapel service for our wonderful mother, will be held on Thursday, October 28, 2010, at 2:00 p.m. at Greenlawn Memorial Chapel, 3700 River Blvd. Visitation will not be scheduled. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Shriner's Hospital for Children at 1-800-241-GIFT. Greenlawn Mortuary www.bakersfield.com/obits