Helen Jacqueline Brown

She was preceded in death by her parents, Dorothy C. (Trask) and John G. Hanna, her brothers John and Griffin, and her ex-husband Mark Peil and her husband John Brown. Helen is survived by her sister Mary, son Eric, son Craig (Cindy), grandchildren Shannon, Kaylee, Tiffany, and Bradley, and great-grandchildren Story and Caden.

The last of four children, Helen's childhood years were spent near the sunny gulf coast of Florida. Her father was a renouned sailboat designer and author, and her mom was a teacher.

After high school, Helen attended Florida State University for a year where she would make a few special life-long friends, reuniting every few years in one of their homes.

In 1954 Helen married Mark Peil, a building products sales rep and veteran of WWII. They moved to the Santa Barbara, CA area in the late 1950's, eventually settling in Goleta, CA. In addition to raising their two sons, she was active in her community, serving on the board of the school PTA, and as a faithful 50 year member of Goleta Presbyterian Church. Helen would eventually perform clerical work for Motel 6 and Ratheon Corp.

Following Mark Peil's passing, Helen met and married John Brown in 1981, a carpenter's union representative. Together they enjoyed weekly bowling leagues where Helen once bowled a 258! Helen and John loved taking many wonderful road trips in their motor home including trips to Mexico.

Helen found great joy in the outdoors with a deep sense of appreciation and awareness for nature. Bird watching, counting annual seal migrations to the beaches of Carpinteria, and admiring the birds and animals at the Santa Barbara Zoo were some of her favorite local excursions. She enjoyed gardening, especially orchids, and was always on the look out for a pesky dandelion weed to pull up. Later, Helen took pleasure in visiting far-off places, too. She embarked on wild African safaris and took exciting trips to St. Petersburg Russia, Beijing China, Europe, Costa Rica, and Australia.

One of Helen's beloved activities was volunteering to help others. She logged countless hours ushering at the Granada Theatre and the Music Academy of the West, organizing her local Alzheimer's Walk, rolling wound bandages with the "Holy Rollers" at Direct Relief International (DRI), offering refreshments to cancer patients and their families at the Cancer Center of Santa Barbara, donating blood at the Tri-Counties Blood Bank, and serving as an usher at her church. Helen supported many other causes through her financial giving to native American schools for children, the elephant and lion foster feeder program at the Santa Barbara Zoo, and public television.

An avid reader, Helen loved reading a variety of materials including nature magazines, fiction and non-fiction books, her Bible and daily devotionals. When she wasn't reading, she enjoyed watching tennis tournaments on television. Her favorite players were Roger Federer and Serena Williams.

Helen would greet each person she met with her beautiful smile and sparkling brown eyes and she will be greatly missed by her family and dear friends.

Please join us in remembrance of Helen by lighting a candle on her 91st birthday, April 14th, 2020 in honor of her life and her legacy of love for God and all of His creation.