Helen Lydecker, passed away December 9, leaving good memories in the hearts of many. A resident of Midland since 1947, she was a loving, principled person with a million-dollar smile. Ruth Helen Borgstrom was born in New Orleans on April 17,1925. She grew up in Washington, D.C., where her lifelong appreciation of beautiful furniture and objects was sparked by her father, Parry, a collector as well as senior chemist at the Naval Research Laboratory. From her mother, Ruth, who drove Helen and older sister Marion cross country to Washington State to visit family every summer, Helen acquired a sense of adventure that led her to become an enthusiastic participant in activities such as sleep-away camp and the White House Easter Egg Roll. During World War II, Helen attended Stevens College, Columbia, Missouri, and the University of North Carolina, where she took a B.A. in sociology. Working in the Settlement School of her Pi Beta Phi sorority in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, she met a young geologist, John Lydecker, who loved rocks, fishing, railroads–and Helen. They were married in 1947 by legendary minister Peter Marshall in Washington's New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, and immediately set out for Midland, Texas, where John had taken a job with an oil company. Midland then had barely 20,000 residents, and the family grew with the community. Three sons arrived: Kent, Bob, and Bill. Helen organized fishing and railroading vacations in Colorado, participated in her sons’ Boy Scout and school activities, and found time for personal interests such as sewing and needlework. She had a lifelong interest in bird-watching, gardening, nature, and natural history. An attentive listener, she had a knack for making friends of all ages. In 1964, John (then working for Sinclair) died suddenly, leaving Helen with boys she raised alone and with intrepid determination. After her sons were away at college, she moved to Korea as a teacher in a Presbyterian medical mission. Upon her return to Midland, she taught third graders at Hillander School, worked briefly in the travel business and did a good deal of traveling on her own, volunteered at the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum–where her puppetry skills for children were legendary–and was involved always in efforts to make peoples' lives better. A founding member of Midland’s Westminster Presbyterian Church, later Trinity Church, she belonged to the First Presbyterian Church. Helen is survived by her three sons: Kent and his wife Toni of St. Petersburg, Florida; Bob of Dallas; and Bill and his wife Greta of Bakersfield, California. She had six much-loved grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, and was preceded in death by her sister Marion Reinig, daughter-in-law Cynthia, Bob’s wife, and friend Lewis Burleson. A memorial service will be held at The Parks Faudree Family Chapel at Manor Park on Saturday, January 10, 2015 at 3:00 PM.The family requests that in lieu of floral tributes, memorials be made to a charity of your choice. Arrangements are under the direction of Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home & Crematory. Online condolences can be made at www.npwelch.com. ,
