Helen Louise Loughran

A memorial service for Helen Louise Meek Loughran will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, January 17, 2026 at St. James Episcopal Church, Greenville Mississippi. A reception will follow in the church parish hall. Mrs. Loughran died on November 27, 2025. Private interment in Hollandale, Mississippi will follow. She was born March 25, 1936 in Memphis, Tennessee. She was predeceased by her mother, Blanche Sutton Meek, and her parents, Roberta Moseley and William Erwin Meek.

Mrs. Loughran was a graduate of Greenville High School and the University of Missouri and was a sixth-generation Mississippian. After living in Denver, Colorado for more than 20 years, she returned to Greenville. She became the first executive director of the Greenville Arts Council and later also served as director and president. She was dedicated to Greenville and worked to enhance it. Briefly, she was executive director of the Main Street program and then, for several years, worked with the Smithsonian Institute to create the Mississippi Delta Folklife exhibit on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. She later helped bring it back to Greenville as the Mississippi Folklife Festival.

One of the principal organizers of the Greenville Cypress Preserve, she served 11 years as treasurer and continued as a trustee for years with dedication to the project, her favorite commitment. She had been a member of the Greenville Garden Club, King's Daughters and Sons Circle No. 2, the Greenville Rotary Club, Amici the support group for the Metropolitan Opera auditions, and the board of Mississippi Opera. She was a member of the first Mississippi Blues Commission in 1992-93.

Mrs. Loughran was a member of St. James Episcopal Church, where she served on the vestry for 8 years, including 4 years as chairman of the activities committee, and also on the grounds, pastoral care, and house committees.

She is survived by her three children: William H Loughran III and his wife Sarah, Roberta Loughran Mathieu and her husband James, and Carolyn Loughran Dwyer and her husband Jason. She is also survived by her six grandchildren: Aidan Gruber (George), Sutton Loughran, Jason Dwyer, William Dwyer, LaRue Loughran, and Holt Loughran, and her great-granddaughter, Willa Gruber, as well as her nephew, William Martin, and her niece, Sarah Martin.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to the Greenville Cypress Preserve Trust, P.O. Box 4243, Greenville MS 38704, or Teach for America, P.O. Box 411139, Boston MA 02241-1139.