HELEN M. YOUNG

(née Fisk, February 14, 1930 - December 9, 2025) Helen passed away peacefully, on December 9th, during a brief stay in hospital, surrounded by her family. Her younger days were happily spent in Owen Sound, the place of her birth. She had a full life there, filled with friends and youthful experiences. She always reminisced that the city was the ideal place to grow up. Its proximity to Georgian Bay, nature and the outdoors was the foundation of her lifelong interests. As a relative of Tom Thomson, art was a part of her family makeup. When Helen was young her uncle, George Thomson, who lived nearby, instructed her how to lay out her palette. She always passed on his unusual tip of producing her now favourite green by mixing Burnt Umber and yellow. Helen attended the Ontario College of Art (1949-53), distinguishing herself as an outstanding artist, winning a scholarship in drawing and painting. Here she met David, her future husband, and many enduring friends. A summer job at the Taylor Statten Camps in Algonquin Park was another connection to her grandmother's brother, Tom. She and David would return to the park later in life every fall to explore and, on occasion, paint the colour and landscape. After art school Helen held a creative position at Eaton's College Street designing their display windows until she started a family with David. Figure skating and going on new walks were activities she loved, continuing them as long as she could. Even in her last months and despite physical infirmities she was determined to walk a circuit in the neighbourhood. Helen will be greatly missed by her husband, David; daughter, Lisa; her son, Tim; and nieces and nephews. In the spring she will be interred at Greenwood Cemetery in Owen Sound, joining her parents, Jessie and Frederick Fisk; and older sisters, Katherine Morrison and Frances Langford.