Marilyn Biel Hellums

Marilyn Biel Hellums, 90, passed away peacefully, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, surrounded by family at her home at Brazos Towers at Bayou Manor. Marilyn was born to the late Mary Thomson Ealy and Alfred Biel in Thrall, Texas on August 14, 1934. She grew up in Austin, Tx where her mother worked as a US Postal worker.
Marilyn was preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Dr. Jesse David Hellums, her son Robert James Hellums, and her older sisters Dr. Betty Ann Edgerton and Mrs. Patricia Lucille Biel Holley.
Marilyn graduated from Austin High School and earned her BA degree in English, Magna Cum Laude from the University of Texas at Austin in 1955. She married David in 1957, and they had 3 children: Mark William, Jay David, and Robert James.
While at UT, Marilyn was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and Alpha Lambda Delta honor societies and served as President of her sorority, Delta Gamma. After graduating she taught at Filmore Middle School in Austin for 2 years. After moving to Houston when David became a professor at Rice University, Marilyn did substitute teaching and volunteering in the public schools.
Nurturing and caring for her family and friends were the focus of Marilyns life. She adored her grandchildren Frances, Robert, Christopher, his wife Sadia, Jessica, her husband, Tyler, Michelle, and her husband Michael. She was always there to care for her grandchildren and to enthusiastically support them by attending their cheering, scouting, performing arts and sports events. She loved her nieces and nephews and consistently organized family reunions to keep her extended family close, loved and supported.
Marilyn was a prolific volunteer in her churches: First Christian and New Covenant Christian and in organizations in her community and at Rice University. She was active in the P.E.O. womens charity and one of her passions was the Rice graduate student loan closet that she established where students could obtain furniture and home goods after arriving in Houston. She was president and a highly engaged member for over 50 years of the Rice Faculty Womens Club. She loved music and was an early board member of Rices Shepherd School of Music. Marilyn was a voracious reader, member of multiple book groups and was a long-time member of The Discussion Group where she hosted many gatherings where ideas were presented and discussed.
Marilyn was an excellent chef and loved cooking for and entertaining her family and friends. Her culinary talents were once featured in a full-page article "Cooking for a Cast of Thousands" in the Houston Chronicle.
Marilyn spent several years overseas with David on his academic sabbaticals in England, Scotland, and Japan and she loved their vacations abroad with family and close friends. They often chartered sailboats in the beautiful waters of the Caribbean and Turkey.
Marilyn taught her family to embrace diversity and was a life-long advocate for civil and human rights. She gave time and treasure to many charitable organizations including the museums in Houston and libraries at Rice.
Marilyns hobbies included reading, the culinary arts, pottery, camping, bird watching, tennis, and sailing. She was still completing the New York Times crossword puzzle within a week of her passing. She loved nature and the great outdoors, especially the bays and oceans where she and David spent time on their sailboats. She loved her multiday sailing trips down the Texas coast from Seabrook to Rockport.
In her senior years, Marilyn moved to the retirement community at Bayou Manor in Houston. She loved her friends there and never hesitated to offer compliments and kind words to everyone she encountered. Everyone was her friend, and she will be missed by many. Her favorite words of wisdom that she always called out to her family members when parting was, "Safety First!".
A Memorial service to celebrate Marilyns life will be held in the Events Center at Brazos Tower at Bayou Manor on Saturday, December 14th at 11am. It will be proceeded by a burial service for the family in Memorial Oaks Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation be made to P.E.O, the Philanthropic Educational Organization (peotx.org, Chapter AC Houston) which supports womens advancement and education.
Services
Cemetery
Memorial Oaks Cemetery
13001 Katy Freeway
Houston, Texas 77079