Helen Doyle Black

A Memorial Mass will be held at 11:00 a.m. Monday, August 29, 2016, at Saint Pius the Tenth Catholic Church, 2210 North Elm Street. The family will receive friends following the service at Hanes Lineberry North Elm Chapel, 515 North Elm Street.

Helen was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on May 2, 1918, to the late John A. Doyle and Louise Lemery Doyle. Her 21-year-old mother died shortly after giving birth to Helen in an age just prior to the advent of antibiotics. She was brought up by her maternal grandparents and at age 12 moved in with her deceased mother's sister's family in Nashua, New Hampshire.

She attended a French-speaking high school in Nashua and graduated from Middlebury College, majoring in French, in 1940. She taught French for a year or so in Nashua and with the country's entry into WWII, Helen was accepted into the nation’s first class of female US Navy officers. She was promoted quickly and at the war’s end had risen to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. After the war, she applied to and was accepted by the Radcliffe College School of Business in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This program ran in parallel with the Harvard Business School and her classes were at Harvard. She received her Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) and began working as personnel director of a major Boston department store. Incidentally, several years ago, she and her classmates at Radcliffe were retroactively granted an MBA from the Harvard University School of Business. After she worked in Boston, Helen moved to Greensboro where she became personnel director of Meyers department store in downtown Greensboro. After several years at Meyers, she joined Burlington Industries headquarters in Greensboro where she served as personnel director of administrative and secretarial services. She had moved to Greensboro to be closer to family including her aunt who had taken Helen into her home at age 12 when Helen's grandparents became quite elderly. Also living in Greensboro was her cousin, in effect, sister, Mrs. Louise Brantley, wife of Dr. Julian Brantley, a long time Greensboro resident.

She remained at Burlington Industries for many years and in the mid-1970s, she became reacquainted with her former high school boyfriend, Dr. Daniel Black of Nashua, New Hampshire. Both had remained single so, better late than never, they married and Helen moved to Nashua where she and Daniel lived for many years. When Daniel retired from his medical practice, they decided to move back to Greensboro, a city Helen had grown to love a great deal. Daniel died in 1986.

After several more years living in Greensboro, she decided to move to the then just opened Pennyburn campus in High Point. She loved Pennyburn and made many good friends there. Unfortunately, health issues required her to move from independent living to the assisted living complex, Taylor Village. She lived several years in Taylor Village, really thriving and taking advantage of its many activities and amenities including proximity to religious services.

Helen will be greatly missed by her family and friends.

Online condolences may be made at www.haneslineberryfuneralhomes.com.