Helen is very proud of her husband’s Air Force service and of her very large military family. Four of her children have served in the Air Force, Army, Army Reserves, and Coast Guard, and 12 of her 26 grandchildren currently serve or have served in various military branches.
You make it possible for widows of U.S. Air Force members to have the home and the community they tremendously need
Helene andKenneth found love later in life. He had recently retired after serving 20years in the Air Force and was newly divorced. She had been raising herchildren from a previous marriage on her own when Helene met Kenneth at work.He asked her out, and she told him no because of her children. Kenneth tookHelene, her children, and his children all out to dinner at the NCO club atMacDill AFB. It was then that Helene realized her children and Kenneth’schildren all attended the same school and were friends.
The couplemarried in 1974 and planned to surprise their children. But, the surprise wason them. The children had hung a banner that read “Now We’re All One Family.”
Helene andKenneth enjoyed a happy life together. However, they had both taken ill at onepoint or another during their marriage and had each served as the other’scaregiver.
Kennethbecame gravely ill and Helene stayed by his side. She didn’t want to let himgo, and he didn’t want to let her go. A week before Kenneth passed away, hetold her he wished they had moved to Bob Hope Village, so he wouldn’t have toworry about her.
“It waspainful to lose him,” Helene said. “If you love someone, whether it’s fivedays, five years, or fifty years, it’s never enough time.”
A year ago,Helene found a 2008 Air Force Enlisted Village calendar that was sent to herand Kenneth as part of a fundraiser.
“Kennethalways said he’d be around to watch over me,” she recounted. “That calendarreminded me of what he told me about Bob Hope Village before he died.”
Helene hassettled nicely into her new home at Bob Hope Village and is enjoying thecamaraderie that reminds her of life on a military base. “The staff and the people here are great. Theyhave done everything possible to help me,” Helene explained. “They’ve helpedwith things I didn’t expect. I’m so appreciative and grateful to be here.”
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