Dale & family - Thank you so much for letting me know about Helen.  The service was a joyful celebration of her life, and I was glad to be there.  There is some sparkle gone from the world without her, so I guess we all need to try to sparkle a bit more to fill that gap.  Peace be with you.

Dale and family, our deepest sympathies, and please stay in touch.

Helen Louise Bingham
Born and raised in Denver in a house built by her carpenter father, Helen grew up on Clayton by Cherry Creek shopping center. The house was built so well it was moved to another location when the property was redeveloped in the 80’s even though the house was brick. Music was always central to her life, but when she graduated from East High and her parents offered her a grand piano or a college education, she chose college. Her transcripts from Colorado State College showed that she most likely really enjoyed her college years, excelling in music much more than any of her other courses. Following graduation, she taught in a two room school house in Nunn Colorado, north of Greely. She recently traveled there to find that the school house was still standing and had been turned into a private residence. She learned much from her students. When she told them that there was no such thing as a black sheep, one brought a black sheep to school the next day. She had fond memories of the time when she lived with a local family.
She married Donald C Bingham several years later and he was soon called to duty in WWII. They were transferred to Santa Monica where he guarded aircraft manufacturing locations in the coastal artillery. Helen was happy that the local population was afraid of getting bombed by the enemy because they had moved out of their homes thereby creating nice local housing for the many Army wives who came to CA to live with their husbands. She made a lifelong friend who called her on her birthday every year.  They were transferred to Texas where Helen remembered crossing into Juarez one day with other Army wives and having the axel break on her car on a railroad track. The local Mexican population quickly surrounded her car, picked up the back and pushed it off the track to safety. She also remembered that her oldest son also named Don would stand in the front yard saying “Hi Daddy” to all the soldiers walking by. 
Following the war, they moved to Loveland CO where Don was an Engineer with the US Bureau of Reclamation working on the Big Thompson Water Project. Mary and Dale came along and Helen created their family band, performing in parades and for benevolent organizations like Eastern Star and Masonic Lodges. The band appeared on Ted Mack Amateur Hour in 1953. Don built a luggage rack for their station wagon and they drove with instruments, dog and luggage to New York for the contest. They were quite a sight. Helen had made matching outfits for the three kids. They won one round and appeared a second time, but lost to a one legged tap dancer.  
In 1957 the family moved to Lakewood where the kids finished growing up. Vacations often included Southern CA where Don routed the visit via some water project that he wanted to see and the family could visit his sister. The kids got to visit the beach and Helen loved to visit Disneyland. She was very happy to find out that you could get in a second day free if you called a store inside the park and told them you wanted to buy something there. She once took the family there three days in a row. Helen’s mother and father would come along on shorter trips where there was a magic Grandmother picnic basket which somehow always had enough food to feed the whole family. All were saddened when both her parents passed following over 60 years of marriage but grateful that they passed so close in time to one another, neither knew the other had died. When all the kids graduated and moved away, they bought a camper. Helen is not the first person you would envision in a camper at that time, but Don wanted a camper which started another wonderful part of their life. They also bought a jeep and traveled to many parts of the state not normally accessible to passenger cars. They ferried a subsequent RV to Alaska and drove back to the states via the Alcan highway, talking about the many parts of the trip for many years to come. They traveled to many parts of the country with good camper club friends. Helen was able to combine her music with her travel by including an electronic keyboard. She performed with other traveling musicians at camper rallies around the country.
At home in Lakewood, Helen expanded her musical ability by becoming an accomplished pipe organist. Our organist today, Mr. Frank Perko played with her when he was 12, stating that she was a wonderfully positive influence on his career. They played duets on the Denver Paramount Theater’s famous pair of pipe organs and at the “Organ Grinder” pizza parlor. He used two of Helen’s “signature” pieces today, “You” and “Who”. He says part of the reason he loved her was that she was the only adult he knew who played louder than he when he was younger.
When Don passed away in 1984, Helen dropped neither motor home travel nor organ music. She eventually bought a new motor home and many more keyboards and used both for many years to follow.
In college, she took a swimming class because she was afraid of water and thought the class would help her. She couldn’t put her head under water however, flunked the class and lost a scholarship. She mentioned how unhappy that made her parents. On trips to visit her son Dale and family in San Diego, she enjoyed boat rides, but made sure the boat wouldn’t go fast and would stay close to shore.
Five years ago, following her 90th birthday party Helen gave her granddaughters a ride home. They both let Dale, Helen’s son know that her driving suggested her family should begin a search for retirement living. Being Helen, she indicated in no uncertain terms that we were not to look for a place for her to move into, however on her own she found the Courtyard and enjoyed several lunches there. Helen’s daughter-in-law Bonnie was instrumental in finding the perfect apartment on the first floor for Helen and her dog Candy and getting her to go for a trial. Helen loved that her apartment was so close to the front of the building where all the action and excitement was.  She was grateful for the rest of her stay. She immediately enjoyed the many people there and the camaraderie they offered. 
Her children would be first to say that Helen enjoyed playing the organ and piano much more than cooking so it’s not surprising that she was very happy to have someone else do all the cooking at the Courtyard. 
Helen was very friendly and always enjoyed an adventure; she would be able to tell you the whole life story of the person seated next to her on any airplane flight she was on. Helen was lucky to have great friends throughout her life. She had a friend from their military days who called her on her birthday every year. Friends from very early in Don’s work career through friends from the National Association of Retired Federal Employees. Friends from the neighborhood especially following Don’s death were ever present in her life. Those neighborhood friends allowed her to stay in her house frequently assisting her when needed. Her friends that surrounded her at the end allowed her to feel safe, secure and cared for and most importantly to Helen unafraid.

Sorry for your loss. Know that as you draw close to God he will help you.(James 4:8)

AVIS DE DÉCÈS

Helen Louise Bingham

13 mars 1916 – 23 mars 2011

Olinger Funeral, Cremation & Cemetery - Crown Hill

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