Helena, or Helen as she was more commonly known, was born at home on 12 October 1918 in Nuckolls County, Nebraska, near Lawrence, to Theresa Margaret (Lutkenhaus) Kathman and William H. Kathman. With her daughter Deborah attending, she slipped away to be with her Lord on 13 September 2014 at her home of over sixty years in Piru, California.
In a great adventure for her day, Helen came with friends from Nebraska by automobile in 1938, to Oxnard, California. There she worked for several prominent families as a housekeeper. Helen also worked as a shoe saleswoman for J.C. Penney where she once waited on Hopalong Cassidy actor, William Boyd.
While living in Oxnard, Helen met William (Bill) Austin King of Piru, California. They were married on 21 June 1943 at Saint John the Evangelist Church in San Marcos, Texas, where he was stationed as a Lieutenant in the US Army Air Corp. She often joked that when her wedding band wore through, she would be free. While it had worn down to little more than a wire, it was still intact at the time of her death.
After the war, Helen returned with Bill to Piru, where she raised her six children and lived the rest of her life. She was an exceptional homemaker and seamstress. Her wonderful meals were eagerly anticipated by Bill and her kids after a day of work on the family cattle ranch.
Helen is survived by her brother William Kathman of Lawrence, Nebraska, five of her six children - Margaret Ann (King) Queen of Oxnard, California, Dorothy Mae King also of Fillmore, Deborah Helen King of Piru\New York, Michael William King of Turlock, California and James Patrick King of San Miguel, California - nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Bill, in 2001. Sadly, her daughter Carol Agnus King of Fillmore, passed away just days after Helen.
Services for Helen will be held at 9:00 a.m. on 10 October 2014 at San Salvador Mission Church in Piru, followed by a graveside memorial at Bardsdale Cemetery in Fillmore.