Helen Hardin Pace

Mrs. Helen Hardin Pace, age 88, of Gainesville, Ga., passed away Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012, at her daughter's residence in Forsyth County, Ga., following a lengthy illness.

Funeral services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday, Nov. 19, 2012, at Memorial Park North Riverside Chapel, with interment to be in Memorial Park Cemetery. Dr. Bill Coates and the Rev. Bruce Fields will officiate. The family will receive friends from 3-6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012, at the funeral home.

Helen was born in Vance, Miss., on Sept. 11, 1924, and was the daughter of the late William Arthur Hardin and Clattis (Naron) Hardin. She grew up on farms in the Mississippi delta. Her family was Southern Baptist and her father helped hand-build their church in Isola, Miss. He was choir director, a farmer and merchant. Her mother raised their five children and imbued deeply within them a love of the Lord, and a desire to get ahead. Helen finished high school and then moved to Memphis to further her education at Draughn's Business College, working during the war at the Army Depot and then for decades at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, as the head of their computer department in Memphis, Tenn.

She met her husband, DeWitt T. Pace in Memphis, Tenn. He had served with distinction in Patton's Third Army in Europe during World War II, earning several medals and stringing wires ahead of the advancing U.S. Army. They had two children, Ricki and Tom, and raised them in the shadow of Elvis' Graceland mansion, in Whitehaven, Tenn. They were very active in Graceland Baptist Church. They put both children through college; Ricki at Vanderbilt and Tom at Embry Riddle, where he learned to become a commercial pilot, and continues to do so today.

After De and Helen retired, they moved to Forsyth County, Ga., and quickly became involved in Gainesville First Baptist Church, and in particular, the "Friendship Class". Helen became the matriarch of the growing family and was always an inspiration and encourager to her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

She survived her only husband of 53 years, DeWitt T. Pace, who died in 1999. Helen was preceded in death by her brothers, William Hardin and Archie Hardin.

Mrs. Pace is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Ricki (Pace) Hodges (Rusty), Gainesville, Ga.; son and daughter-in-law, DeWitt Thomas Pace, Jr. (Donna), Toledo, Ohio; six grandchildren, Keary Dana Hayes, II, Seleta Howard, Michelle Hayes Uhlfelder, Jonathan Hayes, LeighAnn Pace and Austin Pace; ten great-grandchildren, Knox, Max, Ava, Alex, Henry, Daisy, Blake, Blair, Sterling and Pierce; brothers, Pinson Hardin and Carroll Ray Hardin both of Belzoni, Miss.

Memorial Park North Riverside Chapel, 989 Riverside Drive, Gainesville, GA 30501. 770-297-6200. Online condolences at www.memorialparkfuneralhomes.com.