Phyllis Anne Helms

Phyllis Anne Helms

October 19, 1932 - May 18, 2023

Phyllis Anne Helms was born in Spokane, Washington to Grant and Bernice Thompson. She had one sister, Norma Rives, who predeceased her in 2019. Their family lived in Osborne, Idaho until Phyllis was nine years old and then moved to Bremerton, Washington, where Phyllis grew up. She graduated from Bremerton High School and attended Business College in Spokane, Washington.

Phyllis met Merl Helms while on vacation with her sister in Prineville, Oregon. After a short courtship, Phyllis and Merl were married on February 3, 1956. After several moves during Merl's early teaching career, Phyllis and Merl settled in Albany, Oregon in 1968.

Phyllis and Merl were blessed with two daughters, Claudia (Bothwell) Dean, currently residing in Albany, Oregon, and Robin Hawley, who is married to Steve Hawley, and residing in Portland, Oregon; six grandsons: Dustin Bothwell and his wife, Sunny, Nicholas Bothwell and his wife, Brittany. Tyler Dean, and Cody Dean, all of Southern California; and Steven Hawley and his wife, Claire, and Basil Hawley, all residing in Portland; and three great-grandsons, Drake, Deegan, and Declan Bothwell, all of Southern California. Phyllis was so proud of her family and loved to refer to herself as "the Matriarch … I am responsible for all of this!"

During their many years in Albany, Phyllis held several jobs, but her favorite job was working at the Broadway store in downtown Albany. Phyllis always loved fashion, and she loved helping her customers find just what they were looking for.

Phyllis and Merl were members of Albany First Evangelical Church, and Phyllis loved the women she served with in the kitchen over the many, many years they attended church, decorating for annual birthday parties, Thanksgiving and Christmas potluck dinners, weddings, bridal showers, and even funerals.

Mom loved a good pun! Grammar and the use of words were so important to her. Her favorite books were her Oxford Dictionary and World Atlas. She always wanted to make sure of the correct word usage and location of current world events. Mom was famous for her one-liners: "Woman was born to suffer!" and "Women's work is never done!" both of which rang true for her throughout her life.

Phyllis liked to watch football with her family and tried so hard to understand it (although she never truly did), but she loved Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, and Aaron Rodgers!

Phyllis's first and greatest loves were her family and her home and taking care of them both well. Mom's love of fashion extended to her love for creating a beautiful home for her family, and she was always wanting to redecorate! Mom loved to cook and have her family all together with her at every opportunity. Phyllis's passion for cooking and collecting cookbooks was passed on to both her daughters and all her grandsons, all of whom love to cook. Claudia and Robin share their mother's love of cookbooks and cooking magazines, and finding a recipe in one of their mom's hundreds of cookbooks should pose no problem as her favorites have post-it notes stuck on pages throughout, "Your dad would like this!" or "Try this one!" In their later years, Phyllis and Merl enjoyed "happy hour" together, usually sharing a nice pinot noir (Mom had read that red wine was anti-aging!), while watching the old Westerns or golf. Mom was also a giant fan of the Pioneer Woman and all the cooking shows and loved watching them with her family, every opportunity she got.

Most importantly, Phyllis would want her family and friends to know that she loved Jesus with her whole heart and couldn't wait to be with Him. Our mom was an amazing prayer warrior, and it is well documented within the family of the many miracles she prayed into existence. There is not one among us who has not been blessed because of her faithful prayers. We will miss her so very much, but we ALL look forward to being with her again in Heaven.

Please join us as we celebrate and remember the life of Phyllis Helms, our beloved wife, mom, and grandmother, on Friday, June 16, at 11:00 a.m. at Albany's First Evangelical Church.

AAsum-Dufour Funeral Home is handling the arrangements (www.aasum-dufour.com).