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Nancy Helms Obituary
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Nancy Anne Helms, 84, resident of Madera since 1970, passed away peacefully on Saturday, August 31, 2024, in her home surrounded by loving family.
Nancy grew up in California and attended schools in Atherton and Coronado. She furthered her education at Colorado Women's College in Denver.
Nancy enjoyed playing classical and modern hits on her grand piano. Highlights of her childhood included playing for Liberace, who was a guest at her family home, and swimming in the Hearst Castle pools when it was still privately owned. She was the bookkeeper for the family farm and even drove the tractor once or twice. She was a lover of nature, enjoying gardening and watching birds and rabbits in her yard. She was involved with PTA and 4-H, and created a school library, while her children attended Ripperdan Elementary school. Later in life, she enjoyed volunteering at the Madera County Library. She and her husband were long time members of the Sierra Model A Ford Club, showing and touring their Model A Coupe and Fordor. They especially enjoyed hosting the Club's annual ice cream social. Anyone that knew Nancy was entertained by her quick wit and sense of humor. She will be missed dearly.
Nancy is survived by her brother William Sowles and her sister Gloria Boroff, daughter Robyn Nelson, daughter Patricia Allen and her husband Glenn, grandchildren Trevin Nelson and his wife Cristhian, Kaitlyn Allen, and Taylor Allen, and great grandchildren Trace and Clayton Nelson.
Nancy is preceded in death by her husband Kenneth, daughter Diana, and brother David.
A private memorial will be held by the family. Donations can be made to Bristol Hospice.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
1 Entry
Lida Raimondi
November 16, 2024
I am grateful to have had Nancy as an almost life-long friend, starting in Menlo Atherton High School in 1956. We discovered early on that we were born in the same hospital about a month apart, attended by the same doctor. I was lucky to spend summers at the ranch in Oregon and our college years in Colorado. We have written lettters and sent cards over the last 70 years, sharing the sad times and the good ones. I still have them all. Her last to me was in early August. Our lives took different roads, but I knew I could always find Nan in Madera among her grapes and (now) almonds. We have had the last few years to visit-all good ones. To her family, thank you for sharing her with me. It's been a wonderful ride. I know she's tending Heaven's flora and fauna in peace.
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801 E Yosemite Ave, Madera, CA 93638
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