Helen Owen Blake

Helen Owen Blake born Helen Parker Jan 16, 1933. She was a lifelong resident of Mobile. Like most people born in 1933 she was from a working-class poor family and the lessons of that stayed with her her whole life. She was humble, giving, and put her family above everything else. While attending Murphy High School she met my father, Al Owen. Together, they had 3 children Gwen, Suzanne and Buzzy. She spent the next years completely immersed in her children's lives. She was always there for us as the playmate, teacher doctor, chauffeur, class mom, cub scout leader and just about anything asked of her. She baked cookies for school, she put together refreshments after little league games. Mom always had a station wagon so that she could haul all the kids and friends. She loved to sew and made many of my sisters' clothes. She was an only child, but she always had at least 1 dog. I often said that if reincarnation was possible, I wanted to come back as one of Moms dogs. She cared for others after we were grown. She took care of her mother then her stepfather, my dad’s mom, my great aunt then my dad after he had a stroke and passed years later. A few years after my dad passed, she reacquainted with Elmore Blake. Elmore had lost his wife, and they went to lunch one day after church and started dating. She was so fortunate to find love a second time in her late seventies. She and Elmore were like teenagers always out and about doing things. Though she spent many years burdened by taking care of others, she never complained. One of the first lessons I remember from Mom was her emphasizing what she would call the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. She did her best not to interfere in our adult lives but was always there as a shoulder to cry on when we made mistakes. Anything mom had she was willing to give. She told me a story from her childhood about a man knocking on her mom's door one day asking for food. My grandmother didn't have much, but she looked out and saw he had his children with him. She went to the kitchen and since she didn't have anything else she made them mayonnaise sandwiches. Mom never forgot that lesson of giving.

Helen is survived by her three children, Gwen Merritt (Lee Beasley), Buzzy Owen (Chrissie), and Suzanne Barnett (Jerry); one grandson, John Harris (Tamara); granddaughter, Kirby Shannon Finch; one great-granddaughter, Cara Harris; a great-grandson, Timber Hayes Finch; as well as a host of nieces, nephews, and other cherished family and friends.

Visitation for Helen will be held from 1 p.m. until 2 p.m. on Monday, January 27, 2025, at Pine Crest Funeral Home on Dauphin Island Parkway in Mobile, with a chapel service immediately following. Interment will be in Pine Crest Cemetery.