Helen Mae Hostetter

Her mother was once told that Helen Hostetter ? crippled by polio at the age of 5 ? would never amount to anything. Eighty years later, the frail woman who walked with a limp has left a legacy of service that will live on in the community she thought of as her family. ''There's probably not a single person in our community who has enriched our lives as Helen did,'' said former Bellevue mayor Nan Campbell. ''She certainly will be remembered by all of us for a long time.'' Ms. Hostetter died early Saturday morning in her sleep. She was 85. Friends say she was the consummate public citizen, a woman who gave to 81 different charities and was named Bellevue's first ''Best Volunteer of the Year,'' in 1996. ''Her accountant finally told her she could not continue to write checks to every charity that asked her for money,'' said her best friend, Jean Carpenter of Bellevue. Born in Bellingham, Ms. Hostetter attended Western Washington University and earned a master's degree from Stanford University before moving to Bellevue in 1959. She was a teacher and counselor in middle schools in Bellingham and Bellevue. Upon retiring in 1977, Ms. Hostetter threw herself into a second career in community service. She served on the Bellevue Human Services Commission and on the advisory boards of the Bellevue Schools Foundation and Overlake Hospital Medical Center. She was a founding member of the committee that created Bellevue Downtown Park, was named honorary member of the Bellevue Police Department, and ran the campaigns of several Bellevue City Council members, including her friend Carpenter and Cary Bozeman. ''We teased her a lot, saying 'Helen, you need to run for the Bellevue City Council yourself,' '' said longtime friend Lew Mason. Ms. Hostetter loved the Seattle Mariners. For a recent birthday, the Carpenters took her to Safeco Field. Instead of watching the game from an area reserved for wheelchairs, Ms. Hostetter insisted on using her walker to reach a seat above the dugout near first base. ''It was like determination of mind over body,'' Carpenter recalled. ''She was determined to get as close as she could to the field. I think she was really tired for days afterward.'' Ms. Hostetter never let her physical disability stop her from adventure. She loved to travel and took a hot-air balloon ride shortly before her 80th birthday. ''She was a person who did not believe there was a glass ceiling. She made the most of her handicap,'' Mason said. Ms. Hostetter never married and had no children. But she was not without family. ''She had a wonderful heart and she gave all of it to the community,'' Carpenter said. ''While she had no living family at all, it was clear that hers was the city of Bellevue. I've never known anybody quite like that.'' A memorial service will be held at Bellevue First Congregational Church, Saturday, April 6, 2002 at 10 A.M. Remembrances may be made in her name to the Overlake Hospital Foundation. Arrangements by Evergreen-Washelli Funeral Home. Please sign the online guest book at www.evergreen-washelli.com.