9
May 1912 – 14 May 2014
Helen
Frances “Babe” Conner was born May 9, 1912 in Omaha, Nebraska.
Her
father was Arthur Darby Curtiss and mother Lata LaVesta Launder. Her father was
a florist who did landscaping work and worked in greenhouses.
Helen
was the third child with two older sisters, Ethelyne N. Drake and Ruby L. Grandfield,
both now deceased.
In
the early 1920s the family moved to Los Angeles and lived on Idaho Avenue. In
1924 Helen’s brother Edward H., whom many of you know, was born. Ed would go on
to marry Helen Tollefson – and the sisters- in-law were very close
friends. Sadly, Arthur Curtiss never knew his son because Arthur was in the
hospital from early 1924 to mid 1925, when he died. Helen was 12 years old.
In
1929 Ethelyne married Elvin “Ducky” Drake who was a beloved figure in UCLA
athletics for his entire career – Drake Stadium was later named after him, and
the players loved him.
Everyone
had a nickname in this family. Ruby was called “Sis”; Lauren, Ruby’s husband,
was called “Red”; you heard about “Ducky”; Ed was and is called “Bud”; of
course there was “Babe”.
Babe
graduated from University High School. She was in its first graduating class. She was
extremely social and had some wonderful friends. They started a high school
philanthropy club called Cosmos. She graduated right around the time of the
Great Depression, and after graduation, Helen worked at the Tivoli Theater on
Santa Monica Blvd for 25 cents per day.
She
met her husband John Wesley Conner who of course had a nickname – he was called
“Wes” - and they were married in 1931. Both ended up working for Tucker McClure,
Corporation which was a General Contracting business. Wes was an electrician
and Helen was an excellent secretary who was an expert in short hand. During
this time, even though World War II had not started yet, Tucker McClure was
building military bases, and there was a lot of military activity going on in
Ecuador. Helen and Wes transferred to the jungles of Ecuador around 1933 and
they would live there for almost a decade.
Interestingly
enough, the doctors had told them they would not be able to have children, and
for quite some time they didn’t. But in 1943 they decided to leave Ecuador to
have their first child, John, here in the United States. Helen was VERY pregnant. On the way home from
Ecuador, their plane actually crashed in Mexico because of a landing gear
failure. Amazingly, no one was hurt, but there was still this little matter of
getting to Los Angeles to have their baby. Fortunately, they got here just in
time.
Wes
and Helen ended up having two children – John Arthur born in 1943 and David O. born
about a year and half later. The doctors were wrong. John is married to Patricia Johnson and David
is married to Jill Fry.
While
back in Los Angeles, Helen continued working for Tucker McClure as executive
secretary. She used to ride the red car trolley from Venice Blvd to downtown
LA, where she handled the company payroll. She always made sure her kids had
their lunches packed before school, and would send the kids to school before
she headed off to work.
In
1960 Tucker McClure the owner of the business, passed away, and his son Allan
took over. Allan ended up closing down the business and Helen helped with that
process. Allan was also really into astronomy, and Helen helped him get some of
his work published. He gave Helen and Wes a telescope, and this became one of
her hobbies and interests.
However,
the closing of the business meant Helen needed a new job, and so she became the
executive secretary for the California State University Chancellor’s Office,
from 1960 to 1974. She worked for the President of the Council.
She
finally retired in 1974, age 62.
She
and Wes’s life in retirement was extremely enjoyable. She had a lot of friends,
and she was still friends with some people from Uni High School, in fact the
Cosmos philanthropy club kept going up until the 1970s. They met once a month.
She and Wes were also involved in a club called the Huff and Puffs which was a
square dancing club. They were part of a poker club, and she was a member of
the philanthropy club called PEO International.
Helen and Wes traveled all over the world including Germany, England,
Australia, Ireland, they even went to China in the 1970s which was pretty much
unheard of. Their favorite place was Italy. They were both healthy and able to
enjoy clubs, social events and they loved having the family, including their
sons, daughters-in-law, and granddaughters Samantha, Cassandra, and Alexandra,
and extended family over for family dinners. Babe hosted nearly every wedding
shower, baby shower, anniversary party and many birthdays for the family.
They
were blessed with good health and a fun retirement together which they enjoyed until
the 1990s, when Wes Conner died in 1994 at age 87.
Helen
was a member of the West LA Methodist Church on Butler Ave, then University
Bible Church on Wilshire Blvd. In the few years I knew her, she asked me to
call her Helen, I think she thought it wasn’t good for the pastor to call her
Babe.
The
biggest spiritual influence in her life was Community Bible Study. Helen
Curtiss first invited Babe to join in the late 1970s, and she really enjoyed
it. Over time, her understanding of the Bible grew and she began talking more
and more about the Lord Jesus as her Savior. She was faithful in doing her
lessons and homework. After a while, she was asked to serve in the leadership
group, as Dottie Larson’s transcriber in shorthand, which she did even into her
90s. She would type up her notes and send them to Dottie, and those teachings
would end up all over the country. Babe loved the women of CBS and it made a
huge impact on her life. The other CBS women really loved her, too.
In her last years, Helen was eager to go be with the Lord in heaven. Sometimes
she would wake up in the morning and say “Oh darn, I’m still here.” She had no
doubts about where she would spend eternity, not because she was a good person
but because she had faith in God’s Word, that whoever truly calls upon and
believes in the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved. Well, she’s finally there.
Her
Memorial Celebration was held at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica,
California May 28, 2014.
Eulogy by Rev. Rob Brooks, University Bible Church
