Helen Claire Gilbert Wolf

It is with sorrow that we announce the passing of Helen Claire Gilbert Wolf, beloved wife, mother, aunt, grandmother and friend, who left us peacefully on April 26, 2024, at the age of 85.
Helen was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on February 12, 1939. She grew up in Mount Lebanon, a suburb of Pittsburgh, where her parents taught high school. Helen enjoyed long afternoons playing with her friends on the front porch of her Hazel Drive home. Holidays were spent with her large extended family in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where she enjoyed time with her many cousins.
Helen attended Mount Lebanon High School, where she exceled both inside and outside the classroom. In her junior year, Helen became an exchange student through Rotary International and lived with a host family in Denmark. She graduated second in her class in 1957.
Helen received her bachelor's degree in English from Gettysburg College in 1961. Afterward, she returned to Mount Lebanon to teach middle school English, and later, English at Mount Lebanon High School. While teaching, she received her master's degree in education from Duquesne University.
Helen met her future husband, fellow Mount Lebanon High School graduate Richard "Dick" Alan Wolf, in 1969. Dick knew her, but she did not know him – It was a big high school, and Dick was not very outgoing. They were re-introduced by their mothers, who arranged a date during a holiday break. They married in 1971, and Helen moved to Houston, Texas, where Dick was an associate professor of space science at Rice University.
Helen was a lifelong Presbyterian, and after moving to Houston, she devoted herself to church work. In 1972, as a new member of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, Helen began to volunteer in the church office. That volunteer position quickly became a part-time job, and as her children grew, so did her role in the church. She went from creating a weekly church newsletter with a typewriter and a paste-up roller, to serving as director of communications, leading a substantial team of communicators who oversaw the church website, advertising, e-mail campaigns, social media as well as many print publications in support of the church's mission.
After her retirement in 2004, Helen worked part-time for 10 years at the Presbytery of the New Covenant, mostly producing newsletters and other communications materials. During this time, Dick and Helen joined St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church and enjoyed volunteering with one of their ministries, Hospitality Apartments, a nonprofit providing temporary free housing to patients and caregivers visiting Houston for treatment in the Texas Medical Center.
Thanks in part to her early experiences in Denmark, Helen loved to travel, both domestically and internationally. In her youth, Helen spent many summer breaks travelling with her teacher friends across Eastern and Western Europe. Helen and Dick travelled extensively as well, spending time in China, Japan, Singapore, Korea, Canada, Australia and Israel. She also enjoyed making summer trips to Tionesta, Pennsylvania, to the Wolf family's weekend property - a one-room schoolhouse that was a converted into a weekend home and where Dick and Helen were engaged.
One of Helen's biggest joys was spending time with her granddaughters, reading to them, and attending their activities. She passed down a love of baking to all three girls, who spent time hours in Helen's kitchen learning to make sweet treats.
Helen is survived by her husband, Richard, and two children, Susan Wolf Berhow (Jonathan) of Leonardville, Kansas, Michael Wolf (Bethany) of Houston, Texas, and three granddaughters, Addison Rose Wolf, Ella Grace Wolf and Heidi Wolf Berhow. She is proceeded in death by her parents, the late S. Sherrick and Emma (Kadel) Gilbert of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and her late brother, J. Sherrick Gilbert, of Jacksonville, Florida.
Services will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 11, at Brazos Towers at Bayou Manor, 4141 S Braeswood Blvd, Houston, Texas, 77025.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions be sent to St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church and Christian Community Service Center.