20,2018. Born January 23rd, 1923 in Ft. Smith, Arkansas she is predeceased by her parents Lora
(Nee Finney) and W.R. Reece and her husband of 54 years, Everett Allen Tankersley
Married in 1942, Everett and Helen resided in Fort Smith before moving to Little Rock in 1956.
Helen loved children. She was the Director of the nursery at St. James United Methodist
Church in West Little Rock for 32 years before retiring in 2011. In the nursery, she cared for
several generations of infants, many who grew up and brought their babies to “Miss Helen”. The
nursery department was named for her before retirement.
Helen has enjoyed traveling, taking cruises, and road trips around the country, especially
visiting her son and his family in Oklahoma.
She is also predeceased by her brothers W.R (Bill) and Boyd Reece. Her grandson, Robert
Tankersley, passed in 2017.
Survivors include two sons, Everett Allen(June) of Oklahoma and Randall (Kathy) of Little Rock,
grandson Eric Tankersley, granddaughters Lori Pierce (Jim) , Donna Hellard (Chris) and seven
great-grandchildren, all of Tulsa, and grandson James Tankersley (Amanda) of Little Rock. She
is also survived by a sister Marie (Janie) Hightower of Ft. Smith who destroyed her baby doll
buggy in 1931, which Helen never let any of us forget. In addition, she leaves many nephews
and nieces from both the Reece and Tankersley families, her friend of many years, Pam
Sweeden, and her precious pet Ellie.
