Helen Mae Pavalock Burwell

Helen, a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother loved cooking, gardening, traveling and the performing arts. As a librarian, however, her real-life passion was for reading and books. Helen Mae Pavalock Burwell, 83, of The Woodlands, TX died in Spring on 12-29-2023.

She was born in Little Falls, NY in 1940 to Theodore and Mary Pavalock. She grew up with her parents and 3 younger brothers in the countryside of upstate NY in Herkimer County where she attended school in a 1 room schoolhouse. She graduated in 1958 from Little Falls Central High School where she was on the honor roll, played the violin in the high school orchestra, sang in her high school choirs and Glee Clubs, participated in Student Librarians, and won homemaking awards, lettering in all those activities. She moved onto earning her bachelor’s degree in library science from NYU Geneseo and while working full time and raising a family she earned her master’s degree in library science from LSU with an emphasis on law libraries. Her early career was spent in school libraries; however, she spent much of her career in law libraries.

She was a pioneer in the field of computer information searching, writing books about the topic, and being invited by numerous prestigious companies, organizations, and foreign governments to teach and lecture on the topic. Her authored books included Online Competitive Intelligence: Increase Your Profits Using Cyber Intelligence and the Directory of Fee Based Information Brokers.

She owned Burwell Enterprises, a company specializing in providing an information searching directory to countless information brokers and Total Library Consultants, a company founded to support law libraries in the greater Houston area.

Helen met the love of her life, Ed in 1962 while at a newspaper convention for college newspaper editors. They were looking for each other at the convention to exchange ideas for their papers. The two were married on June 27, 1964, at St. Mary’s church in Little Falls NY. They lived in NY and NJ the first few years of their marriage but moved to Texas in 1971.

Helen and Ed started a family of their own, and their children meant the world to them. They were wonderful and dearly loved parents to Mary, Kathy, Eddy, and Isabel. They became grandparents to 13 grandchildren and great-grandparents to 16 great grandchildren. Helen loved her role as a grandparent, sharing her love for reading with them, participating in so many of their activities and baking what have

been classed as the “best chocolate chip cookies” as well as so many other delicious treats with them and for them.

Helen always had a dog, most recently Bobby, treating each one like the valuable family member they were.

She was a member of Catholic church congregations over the years, most recently St. Anthony’s of Padua in the Woodlands, where she sang in multiple choirs. She was also a member of the Chord Busters, a ladies’ singing group in Montgomery County.

Helen was always a supporter of the performing arts. She played both the piano and the violin. She opened her home annually for several years to host students from Texas Young Artists during their annual competition and served on committees for both the Conroe and Woodlands symphony orchestras. She also volunteered at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion for concerts.

Helen will always be remembered for the way that she always loved and served others. We couldn’t have asked for a better mother and will miss Helen every day. Her memory will live on in the hearts of all those who loved her.

Helen was preceded in death by her husband Edward L. Burwell, her brother William Pavalock and her parents Theodore and Mary Pavalock. She is survived by her children Mary Knight and husband David, Kathryn Fives and husband Lou, Edward C. Burwell and wife Tracey, Isabel Pfister and husband Robert, her brother Theodore Pavalock and sister-in-law Rose, her brother Robert Pavalock and 13 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren.

A visitation for Helen will be held Tuesday, January 9, 2024, from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM at American Heritage Funeral Home, 10710 Veterans Memorial Drive, Houston, TX 77038. A Catholic service of Christian burial will occur Wednesday, January 10, 2024, from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM, 10710 Veterans Memorial Drive, Houston, TX 77038. A committal service will occur Wednesday, January 10, 2024, from 11:00 AM to 11:30 AM at Houston National Cemetery, 10410 Veterans Memorial Dr, Houston, TX 77038. A catered reception will occur Wednesday, January 10, 2024, from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM, 10710 Veterans Memorial Dr, Houston, Texas 77038.