Helene Winslett Lawton

It is with heavy hearts we make known that the roads of the Ark-La-Tex are four wheels lighter. Our Darling Mother, Helene Winslett Lawton, who was born January 5, 1937, in Shreveport, Louisiana, the seventh and youngest child of Charles Wesley Winslett and Jeannie Arabella Crouch Winslett - has shed her earthly body to be with those loved ones who have gone on before her.

Helene’s life of adventure began at the early age of 4 when she took the city bus alone daily from her home on Camille Street to kindergarten classes. Never afraid, when she was barely able to see over the dashboards, Helene would jump in and move the big rigs around her fathers’ truck stop and yard. From those first days in a vehicle her road-running continued far and wide!

Helene was a member of the Rainbow Girls as an adolescent where she was honored to earn membership in The Grand Colors of the Cross. She attended Fair Park High School where she was known as a fun and popular girl. She and her friends would often go dancing until the soles of their shoes were worn completely through, changing into slippers for the trip home. Helene attended Northwestern University of Louisiana where she was one of the original Demon Majorettes, entertaining at games, events and parades.

Among many other things after college, Helene worked for the First National Bank in downtown Shreveport. One of her tasks was to dash from business to business carrying a satchel of correspondence or even great amounts of funds for deposit. During one of her daily rounds, a young attorney named R. Clyde Lawton, Jr. took notice. He struck up a conversation and while commiserating about the many friends they had in common, friendship turned into something more.

Not long after that first interlude, Helene and Clyde were married. Their union was quickly blessed by children and opportunity. While Clyde worked as an attorney, Helene was very active in civic organizations. She was an active member of the Broadmoor Baptist Church and in civic organizations like the Shreveport Jaynes. Tea for the Bar Association, Dinner for Kiwanis Officers or even hosting a friend’s wedding in her charming home were weekly occurrences. Few weeks passed that she was not pictured in the newspaper for her community service.

Once Helene’s family reached 6 in number, she and Clyde decided to move to Vivian, the small country town where Clyde spent part of his youth. While Clyde became the quintessential small town attorney, Helene continued working with civic organizations like the Ladies of Kiwanis, the Miss Louisiana Pageant, and as President of The Louisiana Redbud Festival.

The couple welcomed two more children and became significant parts of their community and the First Baptist Church. Along with teaching Sunday School for young adults and newly married couples, Helene was a substitute school teacher, leader of the Girl Scout troop and could be found joining her children on camping and choir trips. Helene was listed in the 1978 Who’s Who in The United States for her commitment to community service.

Helene’s oldest child David Charles often held parties at their home and they became famous for their fun. During one game the teenagers competed for who could pick-up the most trash, a game talked about and appreciated by the whole town! Her daughter Lezlie Karen enriched her life with outrageous friends. She and Helene could often be found together dancing at the many spots in Shreveport or even at the famous Gilley’s Club in Texas. Her second daughter Linda Karil was always quite a fashionista and as a child, one year Helene made her a Halloween costume as “The Wicked Witch.” It was complete with black hat, black dress, burning broom, and green skin – a special effect that took several attempts to reverse! Although never a fan of the water, Helene loved riding in the boat while her youngest son Wesley Byram would show off his water skiing and kamikaze driving skills.

When approached to return to the work force Helene joined the insurance industry and excelled. Beginning as an assistant, Helene quickly advanced, finally accepting an underwriting position with one of the largest insurance companies in the country. Brunch get-togethers became the weekend norm and often she joined her granddaughter Merry Virginia for lunch at school, or picnicking at the duck park.

Eventually, opportunity led to relocation and Helene and her youngest child Virginia Hall enjoyed their time living and playing in Dallas. While working for the insurance company AIG, Helene was instrumental in the development of their Stevedore Department. Her office was on one of the top floors of the then new Golden Towers in Dallas. She enjoyed sharing the view with friends and family. Helene traveled across the country teaching others about the newest department and how to navigate through the new regulations.

Once she decided upon her retirement, it could not have been better timing for her family, which by then included grandchildren. Helene and her middle daughter Merry Helene moved to Southern California. Helene’s love of dance was greatly expanded when she discovered the fun of Square Dancing. Helene made friends and do-si-doed from California to Florida and all points in-between. Several times Helene

participated in local and state fashion shows where her many outfits were admired by all. In 2009 she was invited to the National Square Dance Convention in Long Beach. Her grandson Jeremy Robert Hancock accompanied her to the event and escorted her across the stage for the finale in her Chrystal White Fairy Princess outfit.

When deciding to settle down, Helene chose The Piney Woods of East Texas where she could be near her adored sister Rose Nell Early. There, Helene continued to host family and friends, enjoy dancing, make costumes, sew new and interesting outfits, and visit with friends.

Along with the family, fun, friends, and travel in her life, Helene was greatly touched by grief. She was preceded in death by her dearly loved and eternally missed first born child David Charles when he was just 22 years old. Helene also lost both of her parents and all her siblings: Charles Herman Winslett, Rose Nell Early, Virginia Hall Prud’homme, Carl Leslie Winslett, Sara Ella Smith, and David Arthur Winslett, before her own passing. Additionally, Clyde, the father of her children, died while their youngest children were still in their teens.

To carry on her love of life, travel and new things are Helene’s children and their spouses: Lezlie Toney, Rev. Kent and Linda Dickerson, Johnny and Merry Hancock, Byram Lawton, Gina and Kenneth Perew; her grandchildren Gini and Albert Clark, Brandi and Erick Melendez, Jeremy and Jennifer Hancock and Allison Lawton; her great-grandchildren Liam, Bella, Dewayne, Colin, Joseph, and Isabella, as well as many nieces, nephews, and countless friends from all across the country.

Helene will be missed by all those who were fortunate enough to have met her and will be laid to rest at Hill Crest Cemetery near Haughton, Louisiana beside her children’s father. Services to celebrate Helene's life will take place at 1:00 P.M., Monday, January 31, 2022, at Hill Crest Memorial Funeral Home. Visitation will begin at 12:00 P.M. prior to the service.

The family asks for remembrances to be sent to The Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children in Shreveport, for without them correcting her club foot when she was a child, her years of joy from dancing would not have been possible. Also, Mother Loved Yellow Roses! Pick some up, put on some 80’s country music and send some Love to Her in Heaven each time you do so.