Doris E. Helbig

Doris Ellen Helbig (neé McBride), Littleton CO, passed away September 7, 2012, in Denver, CO, at the age of 95. A loving and beloved daughter, sister, niece, wife, mother, aunt and grandmother, Doris’s family and friends meant everything to her. All who knew her were touched by her kindness, warmth, caring, intelligence, good humor, and sweetness of nature. She was the heart of her family and a fiercely loyal and compassionate friend.

Doris was born April 6, 1917, to Della Boyd and Ray McBride on a farm near Logan, IA. She graduated from Logan High School in 1935. She loved her hometown and throughout her life always made it a point to keep in contact with her friends and family from Logan. In the late 1930s she moved to Colorado Springs to live with her brother and Dad and to work, first at Kress Company, where she made many life-long friends, and later at Alexander Film Company, where she met her future husband, Jack N. Helbig.

During the war, Doris served in the WAVES. Jack also served in the Navy in the Pacific. In 1947, she and Jack married, settled in Colorado Springs, and in 1951 had a daughter, Deborah. Tragically, Jack died of cancer in 1955, at the age of 39. Doris and Deborah continued to live in the Springs, along with many family dogs over the years who were lucky enough to be part of the Helbig household. Doris worked in the accounting departments of several companies, and in 1985 she retired from Kaman Sciences travel department. She was the most loving, supportive and understanding of mothers--a dear friend as well as a parent. Life will not be the same without her.

Doris is survived by her daughter, Deborah & husband Dan Lynes (Littleton, CO); her grandson, David Lynes (Denver, CO); her sisters-in-law, Jovalene Pemberton (Colorado Springs, CO) and Norma McBride (Palo Alto, CA); several nieces and nephews, many cousins, and two grandnieces and a grandnephew; and many loving friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband; mother and father; sister, Ada Fairchild; brother, James McBride; stepbrothers Harry, Harold, Chuck, Willard, and Homer Austin; aunts, Annabelle Kahre & Ada Weston; and uncles, John & William (Wid) Boyd and Harold & Pete McBride.