Helen Bauer Hunter

"Follow every rainbow, 'til you find your dream."

Helen Bauer Hunter, a former Broadway performer, model, and beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great grandmother died Nov. 29 in Charlotte, North Carolina, after a short illness. She was 96.

In addition to performing in Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1947 production of "Allegro" on Broadway, Hunter was the second lead in the Fort Worth Opera's first-ever performance - "La Traviata" in 1946.

Christened Ilona, Hungarian for Helen, Hunter was born Sept. 6, 1926, in New York City. She was the youngest child of Imre Bauer, an Austrian immigrant, and Katrina Roczy, a Hungarian immigrant. She grew up in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan, learning to speak English when she began grade school. Helen had fond memories of roller skating on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, outside the Museum of Natural History and in Central Park.

As a child, Helen demonstrated an exceptional aptitude for music, learning to play by ear a piano her father brought home for her when she was four. She eventually won a scholarship to the LaGuardia School of Music and Art for voice. After graduating at 16, she trained with voice coach Helen Fouts Cahoon, and spent a summer singing at the Waldmere Hotel in the Catskills, where she would sometimes sneak out at night to see other performances.

"We would have to take a rowboat across the lake that was right by our hotel, and we would go see the entertainment at the other hotels on the opposite side," Helen once reminisced about her time there.

Helen also regularly performed at the "Old Rumanian" in New York City, singing in Russian, Hungarian, French, Spanish and English.

During World War Two, Helen began singing and playing as a accompanist to Elizabeth Knox in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey. It was from "Aunt Betty's" piano that she spotted a picture of Gerald Ryan "Clancy" Hunter, who would become her husband of 54 years. Helen inquired about the handsome young serviceman in the photo, and learned he was Betty's nephew - and in the Pacific flying B-29s for the Army Air Corps. She wrote him a letter and included a record of her singing, and the two began a correspondence that blossomed into a romance. They were married in 1946 in New York City.

After the war, the couple moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where Clancy was stationed. Helen became the host of a half-hour Sunday radio show after winning a Bob Hope contest. Every program, she'd sing two solos, followed by a duet. The show also featured a performance by a four-piece band and a religious hymn.

The couple eventually settled in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, where they would raise their four children. Helen regularly played the piano and sang at the family's Catholic church and in comminity musical productions, including playing the role of Mother Superior in "The Sound of Music." She also sang the national anthem at the local July 4th celebration for more than two decades.

In, 1978, Helen and Clancy retired to Ft. Pierce, Florida, where Helen adopted a series of puppies and became an avid painter and gardener. Helen enjoyed visiting her grandchildren and teaching them to play Gin Rummy and Rummy 500. She was a formidable Scrabble player well into her eighties.

Helen is survived by her four children: William, Jeannine, Mary Anne and Geraldine; eight grandchildren: Kristian, Charlie, Katie, J.J., Billy, Emily, Jillian and Sean; 10 great-grandchildren; and one great-great grandchild. She's preceded in death by her husband, Clancy, who passed away in 2000.