Helen Pope

Helene Bernard Pope Helene Bernard Pope passed away after 97 full years of life. Helene was born on February 7, 1915, in Vevey, Switzerland to Amelia Brantschen and Marcel Bernard. She was the oldest of seven children. The family lived in Grachen, a small village below Zermatt in the shadow of the Matterhorn. The family moved to Ampsin, Belgium in 1926. Helene attended nursing school in Liege, Belgium and received her advanced degree in psychiatric nursing in Brussels. Helene worked as a nurse in France, but returned to Belgium to be with family and colleagues when the Germans occupied the country. During the war, she worked in a hospital in Brussels as a surgical nurse. On her days off she accompanied a physician to secretly administer to the healthcare needs of Jews in hiding from the Nazis. Her actions during the war were later honored when Governor Booth Gardner presented her with the Raoul Wallenberg medal on behalf of the Judaic Heritage Society. When asked about her heroic deeds, her response was brief. Helene stated that she and her colleagues did not think about the risk. It was a risk simply to be alive in occupied Belgium. It was not about heroics. People simply must do what must be done or there will be no humanity she said. Near the end of the war, Helene joined a United Nations agency to serve the needs of displaced persons freed from German slave-labor camps as the allied armies moved into Germany. It was while working with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration that she met her future husband, William B. Pope, who had joined UNRA when the US Armed Services would not allow him to serve because of his vision (he was legally blind without corrective lenses). Bill was the Director and Area Fields Operation Officer for UNRA. They worked together with the UNRA teams to create new lives for those who did not want to return to Communist blocked countries and to make sure that those that did want to return home could make their way back. Following their marriage on June 15, 1946, Helene and Bill moved to the United States and lived in Oakland, California, where their son, William B. Pope, Jr. was born, followed three years later by their daughter, Katherine Louise Pope. The family then moved to San Diego, Yakima, and Bellingham before settling in Olympia in 1964. William Pope had taken the position as State Supervisor for Child Welfare and Family Services for the State Department of Public Assistance (now part of the Department of Social and Health Services). Helene returned to psychiatric nursing. She worked at Western State Hospital, where she was in charge of the King County unit until she retired. Helene then started another career when she joined chef, Rick O'Reilly, at La Petite Maison, a restaurant that was once considered by many as the finest cuisine in Southwest Washington. Following Rick O'Reilly's tragic passing, Helene worked with chef and owner, Jeff Philpott, for years until the restaurant was sold. Helene and her husband will always be known for their unprecedented hospitality. Helene would prepare magnificent meals and Bill would be the ultimate host. The couple redefined generosity and caring. Everyone was always welcome in their home. When Helene and Bill were not entertaining family, neighbors, and friends, the couple enjoyed traveling. Together they saw much of the world, returning often to the Southwest. The girl from the Swiss Alps had fallen in love with the beauty of the desert, its people, and Native American art. She also had a passion for the Northwest, especially its bays and the ocean. Helene is survived by her son, William B. Pope, of Olympia; her daughter, Katherine L. Leland, of Kirkland; her grandchildren, Elizabeth Ashley and Benjamin Aaron; and her great granddaughter, Rose Katherine. The family suggests memorial donations be made to the American Cancer Society or to your favorite charity.