Helen Sills Crosby

She was preceded in death by her parents, Earl and Ruth Yocom, her brother Johnny, when he was 15, her husband Ralph Sills of almost 50 years, as well as her husband, Paul Crosby, of almost 2 years.

She is survived by three children, Gary (Mercye) Sills, Judy (Mike) Partridge, and Greg (Kerry) Sills, two step-children, Linda (Leonard) Preston and Neil Crosby, 10 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren, as well as 9 step-grandchildren and 9 step-great-grandchildren.

Helen grew up in Iowa, graduated from Ames high school in 1940, worked hard for a year to earn enough money to pay her way for college and completed 1 year at Olivet Nazarene College, taking mainly business classes. In 1942, at the beginning of WWII, she traveled by train to San Diego to be near her then fiancé, Ralph Sills. He had been drafted into the Navy and was stationed there, but little did Helen know Ralph would be overseas for 29 months. He returned on V-J Day and they were married 9 days later, August 23, 1945. They eventually moved to a small town, New Cuyama, California, living there for 33 years, until retirement. Helen was very involved in church there, actually instigating the building of that church in a vacant lot that was designated for a church. She played the piano or organ, taught Sunday School, went out to the country to bring kids to church every Sunday, was church treasurer and did anything else that was needed. She taught piano to many of the children growing up in New Cuyama. Several of her students have gone on to teach music themselves, stating it was because of Mrs. Sills and her inspiration. She was also bookkeeper for the local grocery store and a local rancher. She loved all kinds of gardening, especially her many varieties of roses. Later in life, she finally did something for herself and took oil painting classes, becoming quite the amateur artist. She also started teaching bookkeeping and accounting at local community colleges, depending where they lived at the time after Ralph retired. She was able to obtain a teaching credential from her many years of experience as bookkeeper/accountant. She loved to read and play Scrabble. If anybody came to visit, there would always be an invitation to play Scrabble with her. She also made sure nobody left her house hungry. She always had some form of food to offer. She loved God, her family and would do anything for anyone. When she was 79, she married a long-time family friend, Paul Crosby, who was also widowed. They were married almost 2 years before his passing. Helen was an amazing lady who will be missed by the many who knew and loved her.

Family and friends gathered to celebrate her life on December 19th, 2016, 10:00am at the Chapel of the Roses, 3450 El Camino Real, Atascadero, California.

Graveside service was held at 12:00 pm at Templeton Cemetery, 100 Templeton Cemetery Road, Templeton, California