Helen McMullen Aderhold

Helen M. Aderhold, age 93, passed away on April 21, 2019. She was born on November 15, 1925 in Bradenton, Florida but most of her adult life lived in Atlanta, Georgia. She was preceded in death by her parents, Tom and Verdie McMullen; her sister Jeanne McMullen Parrish; her brother Tom McMullen and her husband of 64 years, John Aderhold. She is survived by her son Tom (Kay), granddaughters J. Lacee Aderhold and Casey A. Ritchey (Thomas) and two great grandchildren Preston and Eva Ritchey.

Helen grew up in Bradenton, Florida through her high school years and continued her education at Florida State University for a short time. She then moved to Atlanta where she was a dean’s assistant at Georgia Tech. It was there that Helen met her future husband, John Aderhold, a student of Georgia Tech.

After beginning a family and moving to London for four years, Helen turned her sights on completing her education; she received a degree in History from Georgia State University (GSU) in 1976. Helen continued her support of GSU in a number of ways; fundraising activities, alumni events. She served on the Georgia State University Foundation Board of Trustees; was the Alumni Association President in 1991 and 1992; worked tirelessly as a founding member of the Georgia State Athletics’ Panther Club. Helen Aderhold and her Husband, John, gave a generous donation to the university to name a new classroom building in her honor, the Helen M. Aderhold Learning Center adjacent to Peachtree Street in the Fairlie-Poplar District. She received an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Georgia State University in 2001.

Helen was involved in other activities including being an elder at Peachtree Presbyterian Church; on the Salvation Army Advisory Board and a lifetime member of the American Cancer Society’s Greater Atlanta Board of Directors.

The family would like to thank the entire staff of Menders, Inc., and in particular, Monique Cover, Sharon Eubanks, Angela Taylor, Betty Beard, Latanya Ballock, and Marie Pierre, for their outstanding care of and friendship to Helen over the last several years.

In lieu of flowers, friends wishing to do so may make a memorial gift to The GSU Foundation at P. O. Box 2668, Atlanta, Georgia 30301 (For John and Helen Aderhold Fund for Excellence), or The Salvation Army Metro Atlanta Area Command at 1000 Center Place, Norcross, Georgia 30093 or the charity of their choice.

A celebration of life will be held at Peachtree Presbyterian Church, 3434 Roswell Road, N. W., Atlanta, Georgia on May 10 at 1:00 pm. The family will receive visitors at the Church after the service. Interment will be private for the family at Oakland Cemetery.