Arlene was born on September 22, 1937, in La Grande, OR, to Leo and Edna McCarthy. Arlene was raised and educated in Selah, graduating from Selah High School. She married her childhood sweetheart, Tom Helms, on September 23, 1955 (the day after her 18th birthday) at Selah Covenant Church.
Arlene and Tom opened Helms Hardware in October of 1969 where she spent her days until she retired. Arlene loved Selah and all the people in it and around it, she called it her “little piece of heaven.”
Throughout her life, Arlene was a fun-loving person who was full of life and laughter. She had three true loves in life, her family first, the outdoors, and animals/her pets. Her favorite thing to do was go “camping” in the motorhome with their four-wheelers, along with friends or family. She also loved to go to the beach at Seaside, OR, and had a favorite place to stay right on the water.
Arlene is survived and will forever be missed by her three sons: Mark (Carol) Helms, Bradley (Lianne) Helms, and Troy (Joanne) Helms, all of Selah. She is also survived by her seven grandchildren: Wade (Tanna) Helms, Kyle (Amy) Helms, Jacob (Ashley) Helms, Megan (Kevin) Soules, Cody Helms, Tyler Helms and Tommy Helms, and 10 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Thomas Helms, parents Leo and Edna McCarthy, step-mother Mary McCarthy, brother Merle McCarthy and sister Colleen Bowers.
Memorial Services will be held Thursday, February 3rd, at 1 pm at Keith & Keith Ninth Avenue Chapel. Interment will be held in Tahoma Cemetery at a later date. Memorials may be made to the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America. To leave a memory for the family please visit keithandkeith.com.
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