Birth date: Oct 14, 1923 Death date: Aug 10, 2015
On October 14, 1923 in Springfield, Missouri, a dark-haired brown-eyed baby girl was born. This beautiful baby girl named Hellen Elizabeth was the fourth of six children born to Kerney and Ina Harville. The family relocated to Cal Read Obituary
Oh momma Hellen the hole you have left in my heart. I feel empty every day since you left us. Life is not the same with out your smiling face to wake up to everyday. I miss our humor we shared so many laughs. All our time out shopping going to the beach sitting around just talking watching movies. My heart aches for you…. I love you and miss you so much. Sue
Message from Daughter Kimberly Winkler – First of all, I would like to thank everyone here today to pay respects to Our Precious and Beautiful Mama! 57 years ago, a match was made in Heaven. I was only 6 months old. God gave me a Mother! Blessed me with a beautiful family. So Loving?so Giving?unlike no other. Mama taught me the meaning of Right and Wrong. To stand tall in my beliefs and to NEVER GIVE UP! Hold on?.Be STRONG! Mama was a member of the Optimist Club where she taught disabled children to bowl and other activities. A lifetime Member of the Pioneer Club through AT&T and a Member of the Wounded Warriors Association. Mama was beautiful inside and out. I know she?s in Heaven without a doubt! I will miss you beyond words. So, let me say, ?I?m not here today to say goodbye?I?m here to let you know I will continue to be God?s soldier and will do all I can to make you proud! When my time comes, I?ll see you AGAIN? Together we will say, ?Praise the Lord! Kimberly you made it in!? Until then my precious mama, you will be forever engraved in my heart. Until we meet may you fly with the angels in the clouds. Love Your Daughter, Kimberly
Message from Daughter Fawn – In the summer of 1974 when I was 14 years old I met Robert Winkler and admired him each day after he worked and hung out with the guys across the street from the foster home I lived. In a short time him and I became girlfriend and boyfriend. When he was 17 he went into the Army and Mother Hellen asked Kimberly to invite me to his graduation. We all were packed in mama and Father Don?s camper and went off to watch Robert graduate. After a beautiful day I got to know Kimberly more as we chatted and before I knew it, in May 1975 Kimberly picked me up at Peterson High School in Kern?s yellow car and asked me if I wanted to be part of the family as a foster child and of course I said YES! I walked into the house on Swallow Drive and I felt like it was too good to be true. Mama handed me a key to the house, something no foster mother ever did and I looked at her in amazement. She said ?Your curfew is 1:00, but if you are with Kim it?s 2:00.? Well, of course mama knew what she was doing and knew I ?d want to stay out later so I smiled at Kimberly and she immediately took me under her wing as my big sister. I was so amazed at how safe and happy I felt, and I didn?t know if it was going to last. I felt it wouldn?t be long before I was shuffled to another foster home, so I stayed very quiet and didn?t say much. Mother Hellen said to me about a year ago, ?You know Fawn, when you first came to live with us you didn?t talk much and it took time for me to pull you out of your shell.? And as we all know she?s never been able to shut me up since. She taught me to stand up for what I believed in and to do what was right. When I was entering 11th grade at Cupertino High School we were in the counselor?s office and she was told, ?You know Fawn qualifies for the free lunch program so I can sign her up.? Mama looked at the counselor and said, ?That?s ok ? I can feed my daughter? as she turned and smiled at me. And that she did as every morning she would come into our room and put lunch money on our dressers. Before long, Mother Hellen discovered one of my hobbies. She took me to the fabric shop frequently so I could sew my own clothes, and soon I had became so good at sewing my Home Ec teacher displayed my jacket in the window for an entire semester. Mother Hellen loved to watch TV while I sewed all night in the kitchen. It was a special time we shared even though few words were said. When I entered adulthood, any time I had to move out of a roommate situation she was always there with a place to live. I enjoyed her sense of humor and recall her saying, ?You were my really big baby!? She loved my colorful, floral blouses I?d wear and my shoes ? and just last summer she wanted Kimberly and I to order my same sandals for her on Amazon. She loved the flowers and the shamrocks I?d wear in my hair on St. Patty?s Day, and the donuts I?d bring her when I?d come visit. During her last months she would take my hand in hers and put it to her face and kiss my fingers and say ?I love you?I love you? over and over again. She made me feel so safe and secure that I was completely comfortable just ?popping up? unannounced ? and I always used my key without even having to knock on the door. She gave me a forever home, and forever love. And my highest hope is to take her best qualities and make her a part of me as we continue her legacy. I love you mama and I can?t wait to hug you and see your face light up like a Christmas tree when I see you in Heaven. I love you mama and can’t wait to see you in Heaven!
Poem Written for Mama from Daughter Kimberly Winkler She Wrote 20 Years Ago and Mama Kept in Her Jewelry Box MOTHER God sent someone special to me? That someone is you. How thankful I am that you chose me, To be your daughter, and you my mother. You taught me how to walk and talk, You held my hand so I wouldn?t fall. Throughout the years you?ve always been there, All that you?ve done to show that you care. My teacher, my hero, I?m so proud to call you Mother. If the choice had been mine, I would have chosen no other. Love Your Daughter, Kimberly
Dana, Kim, Bobby, Kenneth, Linda and the entire family — Please know all the memories you have cannot be taken from you, and as such you will carry those with you the rest of your lives. Good times, and bad, we can be thankful for them all. In spite of our losses, we can go on with life knowing we have been greatly blessed in so many ways. “Family is family” and “family is forever”. As someone who is not blood kin, I would like to thank this entire family for the privilege of knowing them for many years now, which involves an ongoing relationship which now exceeds 4 generations. My first association was when, I met Grandma (Ina Laminda Fleeman) Harville when I was 17 during the 1977-78 school year in Hayward. Grandma Harville was living with Vivian and Ed, and I was of course acquainted with Linda, Skip, Melinda, and Andrew who lived nearby. (This was before their “afterthought” Mary Beth came along.) During that year, Grandma Harville turned 89 on April 3, 1978, In spite a 60+ year age difference, we had became very close friends. She and I wrote letters back and forth until she could not longer do so, and then Vivian wrote on her behalf until I returned to the Bay Area in 1986. I still have those letters. I first met Hellen in April 1989, as well as Bobby, at Grandma Harville’s 100th birthday party which I, and my visiting parents were privileged to be a part of. Through everything this family has endured, we have met many times since, seen births and deaths, joys and disappointments, as we continue through our days. May we all reunite in accord with God’s Word where it says: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
