Helen L. Bearden

Helen L. Bearden, went to be with the Lord February 15, 2021. She was 83 years old. To say she will be missed by so many is an understatement. Helen was known for her kindness, warmth, and in spite of her battling both lymphoma and leukemia, her smile never once faded. Her thoughtfulness was always evident from cards to her family and friends just to say hello. She knew everyone’s birthdays at her and Troy’s favorite restaurant, The Buttermilk. She would greet each birthday with a card and a sweet chocolate bar. To Helen, the restaurants she frequented, her friends she ate breakfast with, the salon where she had her hair cut, her doctor, her oncologist were filled with people she had gotten to know and deeply cared for. They were family to her. And in this last year of social distance with such a compromised immune system, she missed the closeness of her friends. Ruby McDonald, Helen’s sister, remembered her this way: As a child, Helen wasn’t my “Big Sister” as she became in later years. She was my idol. I admired her clothes, the way she carried herself, and her ability to dream beyond what was happening at the moment. In more recent years, we had become much closer. She had truly become my “Big Sister”. I will miss our weekly visits and the fun we had reminiscing over old photos and the times we had living on a farm in East Texas. The hardest part of losing someone isn’t having to say goodbye, but rather learning to live without them, always trying to fill the void of emptiness that’s left inside your heart when they go. I will miss you, “Big Sister”. John Irving, speaks about this loss: When someone you love dies, you don’t lose her all at once, you lose her in pieces over a long time – the way the mail stops coming, her scent fades from her pillow and the clothes in her closet and drawers, the sound of her voice. The day comes when there’s a particular part that overwhelms you with the feeling that she’s gone, forever. Helen was born in San Antonio, TX in 1937, to Leonard and Estella Hobbs. She was the oldest of three girls. Growing up Helen attended the Methodist Church where she was a member of the Rainbow Girls and held the office of Worthy Advisor. She graduated from Harlandale High School and kept in touch through the years with many of her fellow classmates. Helen had a can-do attitude she learned from both her father and mother, always believing that even when you are feeling bad, you keep moving forward, just keep going, she would say. Helen ran a daycare in the early 1970’s in New Braunfels and was a manager at 3M in Austin, which she retired from after 30 years of service. Her loving husband, Troy, passed away in July of 2020. Everyone that knew Helen and Troy, knew they were inseparable. The two of them met while working at the State Hospital in San Antonio. After only three months of courtship, they were married on October 5, 1957. In 2019 they celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary, Troy was the love or her life and Helen the love of his. Helen and Troy Troy asked me, will you take my hand? Three months later we walked down the aisle hand and hand. Sixty-three years he held my hand as we walked through life together. The Lord came for Troy and I was left without his hand holding mine. I miss his touch, his laugh, his smile. I see Troy is here. Here to take my hand once again, to take me home. We are together again, holding hands in heaven. Helen was blessed with two children, Regina Kay Bearden DeLine, and Troy Duane Bearden and daughter-in-law, Anessa Bearden. Helen loved her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Any time they came to visit, she would give each one a big hug and never failed to tell each one how much she loved them. Her grandchildren called her Nana, they include Victoria Bearden, Katriona Girt, Denver Bearden, Kirby and husband John McBride, Jason DeLine, Mike DeLine and wife Jill. Her great grandchildren Tatum McBride, Saige McBride, Emery McBride and Ruby DeLine. One of Helen’s last request she made was to make sure that each of her grandchildren knew that she loved each and everyone of them so much and to give each one a big hug for her. She will be watching over each of them from heaven now. Helen was preceded in death by her husband Troy Bearden, parents, Leonard & Estella Helen Hobbs, in-laws Charles & Frances Bearden, sister, Betty Jo Phillips. Helen is survived by her daughter, Regina DeLine, son and daughter-in-law, Troy and Anessa Bearden, sister, Ruby McDonald, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, Kenneth & Juanez Bearden, Donald and Judy Bearden, David Wayne and Eva Bearden, James Thomas and Linda Bearden, and Sandra Spiewak, brother-in-law Dave Phillips and all Helen’s grandchildren and great grandchildren. The family would like to give special thanks to Dr. Sree Daggubati and all the staff with Texas Oncology, and Jeanette Naschke, for the care they gave her and the friendship they shared with her. Graveside services are scheduled for 2:00 PM on Thursday, February 25, 2021 at Lakeland Hills Memorial Park, 4219 Park Rd. 4S, Burnet, TX 78611.