Helen Bardenheier Williams, 94, passed away peacefully June 8, 2019, widow of John Walter Williams, deceased February 28, 2019. Born in Saint Louis, Missouri on July 5, l924, Helen was the daughter of the late Joseph and Clara Bardenheier, and was the youngest and sole survivor of her immediate family. She was predeceased by her first husband, Lewellyn David James, Jr. She is survived by two daughters, Marianne James Leonard (husband Tom Wilbur) and Stephanie James Norris (husband Edgar) and two sons, L. David James III (wife Kathy) and Paul Edward James (wife Barbie). She was a parishioner of St. Mary’s Church in Greenville.
She was predeceased by four sisters, Viola (Frederick) Switzer, Elizabeth (Ralph) Lunt, Mary (George) Clark and Theresa (Walter) Wendell and four brothers, Joseph Bardenheier, Jr., John Bardenheier, George Bardenheier, and Carl Bardenheier. Helen was the beloved grandmother of eleven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. Funeral Mass to be held at the Basilica Cathedral of Saint Louis.
Helen graduated from Villa Duchesne school in St. Louis and later graduated Miss Gills School in Bernardsville, N.J. Having a keen interest in business she hoped to someday be a part of her family’s wine business. She was also an accomplished classical pianist with offered studies at The Juilliard School. A stylish lady with a quick wit and inventive sense of humor, her lifelong interests were music, the opera, art, books and gardening. We remember the year her Floribunda roses were the talk of the neighborhood. She had a deep compassion for those less fortunate and many Thanksgivings were spent quietly delivering bags of food with the Sisters of the Poor. Having a good spirit for any adventure by the water, many summers were spent on Lake Michigan. Mother loved boats and the sea, and made sailors out of us all. She joined the family sailing trips on the Chesapeake Bay and later on the Hudson River and Lake Champlain. One of her favorites was our cruise on the last remaining wooden paddleboat, the Delta Queen, from Cincinnati to Nashville.
Helen and her late husband of 50 years, John W. Williams, enjoyed the fine art of dining and libation, his good stories and to the end, their competitive games of Billiards at Brookdale. They will be missed.
Many thanks to the entire staff of Brookdale and the Sitters Registry for their loving care of Mr. and Mrs. John Walter Williams.
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