Alice Hamner Helm

September 12, 1922 - April 10, 2020 Alice Hamner Helm died last week at her home in Valley Village. She was 97. A life-long Californian, Alice was born in Burbank, the youngest of eight children. Her father, a cowboy who also supported his family by buying and selling real estate, died when she was seven. The family moved around the state during Alice's childhood, eventually settling in Burbank. All eight children attended college, and Alice graduated Phi Beta Kappa from USC in 1945. (As a freshman in 1939, she went to her first Trojan football game, which launched a life-long commitment to the team. She attended games well into her eighties.) She married Ralph Helm in 1945, after he returned from serving two tours in World War II as a bombardier. Alice worked at IBM and at Marquardt Aircraft to put Ralph through USC law school. Later, while raising her three children, she was a tireless advocate for LA's public schools. Her efforts helped establish programs for gifted students at Walter Reed Junior High School and North Hollywood High School. After her kids left home, she sold real estate for more than twenty years. A dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, Alice volunteered, canvassed, and organized for progressive candidates, and could always be counted on for a wry and incisive take on current events. Alice was predeceased by Ralph, her husband of 57 years, in 2003. She is survived by her three children, Mark Helm, Kris Helm, and Patricia Helm Gagan, as well as four grandchildren.