Helen English Bering

Helen grew up in Beaumont, Texas, and attended Beaumont High School. Life in Beaumont was simpler then, but from the stories we’ve heard, she managed to liven things up. As a girl, she rode a horse named Napoleon. As a teenager, she drove a car called The Bed Pan. Between the two, she made quite an impression on Beaumont. She went on to the University of Texas, where she joined Pi Beta Phi and loved sorority life. There she picked up the nickname “Little Egypt.” Supposedly she dressed up as Little Egypt for a party, and the name stuck. It never really went away, either. For the rest of her life, whenever she ran into her old college friends, she was Little Egypt all over again.

Helen and her husband, Conrad Bering, Jr., had a wonderful married life together in Houston. They were part of the Greatest Generation. They raised their children in a loving home and were great role models. Helen supported Conrad in everything he did in the real estate industry. Together they had many friends and a full social life. For more than 50 years, they and a close group of college friends in Houston had a supper club that met once a month for dinner, each time at a different member’s home. Houston was home, but Beaumont was never far away. While her mother was living, there were frequent trips back, which usually included the Beaumont Country Club and “Club Luby’s.”

Helen was a member of the River Oaks Garden Club, a master gardener and a flower judge. She was head of the greenhouse at Bayou Bend and loved digging in the dirt there with her garden club friends. She was also a member of the Junior League of Houston, and she and Conrad took part in the Junior League Charity Ball show.

Helen loved her friends, and she loved a good game. She played tennis regularly and had a standing doubles game with her sister, Eleanor, and other ladies. At the card table she was a ruthless Onze player, and she passed those skills on to her grandchildren, who all grew up playing cards in the den with Mimi, as they called her, while Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald played. Her social life meant a great deal to her, and it showed in her many friends and in all the people who loved her.

After Conrad passed away, Helen and her son Walter spent Sundays at the 5:00 p.m. service in the chapel at St. John the Divine. Afterward they had dinner in the Terrace Room at The Houston Country Club, and the evening always ended with a brandy freeze. In her later years at The Village of Tanglewood, her children kept the tradition alive and made sure a brandy freeze found its way to her now and then. Some traditions are simply too important to give up.

Later in life she picked up a few Spanish expressions, and whenever someone left the room, she would call out, “¡Adiós, muchachos!” Heaven just got a lot more fun. Adiós, Mom. We are going to miss you very much!

Helen was preceded in death by her father, Walter Coleman English; her mother, Helen Mackenzie English; her brother, Walter Coleman “Buddy” English, Jr.; her sister, Eleanor English Stimson; her brother-in-law, Arthur Stimson; and her husband, Conrad Bering, Jr.

She is survived by her children: Conrad Bering, III and his wife, Bernardine Freeland Bering; Alison Bering Mountain and her husband, Michael Andrew “Smoky” Mountain; and Walter Mackenzie Bering and his fiancée, Ellanor Allday Beard. She is also survived by her grandchildren: Hannah Bering Pittman and her husband, John Robert Pittman; Moira Mackenzie Bering; Eleanor Bonner Bering; Mackenzie Mountain Hamlin and her husband, Jefferson Turner Hamlin; Andrew Bering Mountain; and Charlotte Faye Mountain. She also leaves her great-grandchild, Cannon Patrick Pittman.

The family extends a special thanks to her wonderful caregivers, who took such good care of her: Lovie Stewart, Nekelai Williamson, Beverly Thomas and Denise Maxwell.

The family will gather for a private interment conducted before the memorial service. A memorial service and celebration of life will be conducted at The Church of St. John the Divine, 2450 River Oaks Boulevard in Houston, on Friday the 30th of October 2026, at two o’clock in the afternoon. A reception will follow the memorial service. Details regarding the reception will be announced at the service.

In lieu of customary remembrances, memorial contributions in Helen’s name may be directed to River Oaks Garden Club, Houston.