Helen Kimber West

June 11, 1904 - March 10, 2009

Helen Kimber West was born on June 11, 1904 in Agra, Oklahoma. Her family moved to Rocky Ford when she was two years old and she lived in Rocky Ford the rest of her life. After graduating from Rocky Ford High School in 1922 she attended Colorado Teacher's College in Greeley and the University of Denver. During the Depression she went to Detroit, Michigan, where she was able to find work and live with her sister Lena. She later said she learned the value of a penny when living there. One cold winter day she had to make the long walk home on foot because she was short a penny for bus fare. After returning to Rocky Ford, she worked for many years at the Rocky Ford National Bank and was employed at the La Junta Air Base during World War II. She took early retirement from the Pueblo Army Depot in 1969 to care for her aunt in Oklahoma who had just been widowed. The busiest part of her life began upon her retirement. Although she had never cooked, her long-time friend Mildred Hadden helped her learn to cook and bake. The cupboards and basement shelves were stocked with the results of her canning and preserving. She continued to knit and supplied every family member with an afghan. Even the baby dolls had small Afghans! She loved to garden her flower beds brightened the road in front of her house. Her orange poppies and purple iris were always in bloom for Memorial Day. People often stopped when they saw her working in the yard to compliment her flowers and ask for advice. Helen loved to read, especially biographies and history. Her love of history led her to many projects. She researched the genealogy of the West/Ryan/Deal families and corresponded with newly discovered cousins across the country. She compiled more then two dozen customized family history books for her great nieces, nephews and cousins. She also wrote a history of the First Presbyterian Church in Rocky Ford. Helen was an active Girl Scout who climbed Pike's Peak twice (in a skirt!) with her mother, her sister Emma and the rest of their troop. She was a troop leader for many years after that. Her love of scouting led her to research the history of the old scout lodge on Reservoir Hill. She began reading City Council minutes to learn when and how it had been built. She became fascinated with what she read in the minutes and this resulted in her most ambitious project. She wrote a history of Rocky Ford told through the City Council minutes and supplemented with interviews of people who represented various groups of people in the Rocky Ford Community. Helen conducted the interviews and her good friend Virginia Blackford took the pictures. Each of the 16 volumes focused on a different aspect of the town's development. This history was written on an old manual Royal typewriter when she was in her eighties. She was awarded a plaque at a City Council meeting in recognition of her work. Helen was Silver Queen of the Arkansas Valley Fair and was runner-up for the Silver Queen of the Colorado State Fair. She was later named the Rocky Ford Pioneer Woman. She was an active member of the First Presbyterian Church, Lambda Alpha Lambda sorority, the Rocky Ford Garden Club and the National Association of Retired Federal Employees. She loved to play bridge and delivered Meals on Wheels. She volunteered at the Pioneer Health Care Center where she later became a resident. She continued to be active at the nursing home and won several awards in the annual wheelchair races. She was always quick to point out that she was "the pusher, not the rider". She loved playing Dominos with her buddy Henry Donelson. As she got older her memory began to fail and she once missed a cousin's funeral because she went on a "road trip" to Cripple Creek! Her greatest role was as the beloved matriarch of a large, extended family. She spent much of her time with family and was involved with three generations of nieces and nephews. She was always a part of baptisms, graduations and weddings, was there for the first day of school and attended school programs and concerts. She led nieces and nephews on tours of Bent's Fort and went with them to visit museums and historical sights all over Colorado. She accompanied one nephew on a graduation trip to Washington, D.C. and visited another nephew in Philadelphia and then on to New York City and Baltimore. She also spent several weeks traveling in an RV from Arizona, across the South and up the East Coast. Helen was dearly loved and is survived by her niece Nan Deal Morehead of Centennial, CO, her nephews Kim (Connie) Deal of Aurora, CO and Dean (Carolyn) West of Irving, Texas. Other survivors include six great nieces and nephews: Jocelyn (Steve) Taylor, Ryan Morehead, Daniel Morehead, Donald Morehead, Tim (Danielle) Deal, and Shelley Deal and five great- great nieces and nephews: Matthew Alexander, Claire Benedict, Madison Hopper-Morehead, Mackenzie Hopper-Morehead, and Gabriel Morehead. She will also be missed by many cousins and close friends. She was preceded in death by her parents Nellie Ryan and Orlando Willis West, and her four siblings: Lena West, Harold (Ruth) West, Emma "Jack" (Ed) Sundgren and Mary Frances "Bill" (Elvis) Deal.