Helen Tudder Bivans

Helen T. Bivans, 86, died Friday, August 12, 2016 at her home in Plano, TX. Helen was born on May 16, 1930 in Maryville, Missouri. After graduating from the Rochester School of Practical Nursing (now part of the Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences) in 1952, she became a registered nurse in Gainesville, Florida, where she met Richard, her husband of 54 years.

Richard and Helen married on March 5, 1955 in Folkston, Georgia and moved to Eau Gallie, Florida, where she continued her career as a registered nurse and Richard began his career as an electrical engineer for Harris Communications and later for NASA. They moved to Titusville, Florida in 1970 during the height of the space program. As an office nurse manager, she helped several young doctors establish new practices in Titusville until her first retirement. She later joined the occupational health services unit of EG&G at Kennedy Space Center and came out of retirement a second time to join GTE as an occupational health executive in Tampa, Florida.

Helen was an avid bridge player, hosting several standing card games, and loved to feed and watch the birds outside her kitchen window. She volunteered as a swimming official when her children were young, moved up to referee and continued to referee swim meets long after her children stopped swimming and moved away for college.

She was predeceased by her husband Richard, her parents Boyd and Goldie Tudder, her brothers Don, Paul and Joe, and her sisters Carol and Bette. She is survived by her children Richard Jr. and his wife Jane, Carolyn Hudman and her husband Bill, and Roger and his wife Sarah, as well as by her grandchildren Elizabeth and Kenny.

A celebration of her life will be held on Saturday, September 10 at 2:00 pm at her former home in Titusville, Florida, followed by an interment on Saturday, September 24 at 2:00 pm at Nodaway Memorial Gardens in her hometown of Maryville, Missouri.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Condolences may be sent to www.dignitymemorial.com.