Mrs. Helen Elizabeth Noonan

Age 93 of Cardiff-by-the-Sea, California. Formerly of Lima, OH, Union City, IN and Kosciusko, MS. Helen passed away peacefully on Friday, May 2, after a brief illness. Born in Toledo, OH, on December 26, 1920; she was eldest of the three children of Nellie (Risser) and William Hayden Reese. She was raised in the Lima area where many farms had been pioneered by her ancestors.

Helen was a beautiful woman inside and out, who graced the earth with her presence. She had a wry sense of humor, a giving spirit, a sense of adventure, and a long and fruitful life.

A graduate of Lima Central High and homemaker extraordinaire, she was a Rosie the Riveter during WWII when her husband Bill was off to war. She never wasted anything, was a genius at adaptive reuse, and was green before green was even a thing. She volunteered for her church and in her community.

Widowed in 1981 after thirty-nine years of marriage, a lifetime of wise shopping and shrewd stock investing; she became a world traveler visiting such places as Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Mexico, China, Vietnam and most European countries. She resided in the South of France for a period and took many road trips throughout the United States. At age sixty-five, she earned a vacation to Hawaii for successful selling of hosted party products. In her nineties, she enjoyed time with friends and family, daily exercise, the New York Times Crossword, and stockpiling Bingo winnings one quarter at a time.

An effective writer on the subject of responsibility, it was well known that if a family member received a "Letter from Grandma" it meant that they better straighten up and fly right. Being an asset to society was expected of her progeny.

She is preceded in death by her husband William; her parents; son-in-law, James Leaver; sister-in-law, Virginia Darling Reese; brothers-in-law, Harry and Gene Noonan, Ben Green; and sister-in-law, Eileen Noonan.

She leaves a legacy of a close-knit family of five daughters and sons-in-law, Judy and Richard O'Reilly of Paris, France; Jayne and Robert Abernathy of Lebanon, OH; Patty and James Roemer of Bonita Springs, FL; Connie and Brian Hood of Dawsonville, GA; and Sharon and Mike Kramer of San Diego, CA; sister, Betty Green of Lima, OH; brother, Bill (Miriam) Reese of Wapakoneta, OH; sister-in-law, Martha Noonan of Lima, OH; and thirty-seven grand and great-grandchildren.

The family wishes to thank Belmont Retirement Community for their loving care of the family’s cherished matriarch. They wish to thank Elizabeth Hospice for their comforting end-of-days care of Helen and her five daughters. A private service will be held at the National Cemetery in Biloxi, MS. It is requested that any donations in Helen’s honor be made to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.