Helen V. Stinnett passed away peacefully at home on June 13, 2022 at the age of 102+. She was born in the North Korean town of Putchin (now called Hokuchin) in 1920 to parents Simon Peter and Georgia Compton Clapham who were from Indiana. Her father was a mining engineer working for the American Consolidated Mining Company.
Helen and her parents returned to the U.S. in December 1940 while her two older brothers, Bob and Bill had returned in 1935 for college. Bob became a Presbyterian minister while Bill became a Naval Aviator serving in the Aleutians during WW2. After the war started Helen joined the WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), an auxiliary of the Navy. While training in Oklahoma she met Thomas who was training to be a B-17 bomber radio-operator/gunner. They were married in Maryland while she was assigned to the Navy Communications Center in Washington D.C. and Thomas was on his way to England to join the 390th Bomb Group in 1944.
Thomas decided to make a career of the newly established United States Air Force after the war and Helen became a dedicated homemaker and mother to two children, Roger and Karen. The Air Force Sent the family to Guam, Ft. Worth, Washington D. C., Guatemala City, Biloxi, Lake Charles, Wichita Falls, Del Rio, Sacramento, St Louis, and sent Thomas to Shemya (Aleutian Islands), Vietnam, and Thailand. Tucson was the final stop before retiring and moving to El Paso.
Helen was preceded in death by her husband Thomas (96), married for 75 years, her parents, Simon Peter and Georgia, and brothers Bob and Bill Clapham.
She is survived by son Roger (wife Rebecca), daughter Karen Villeneuve (husband John). She was blessed with three grandchildren, Megan Stinnett, Jeremy Villeneuve, and J.T. Villeneuve. Her brother Bob blessed her with niece Bobbie, and nephew Kit. Brother Bill blessed her with niece Judie Bowman, nephews Steve, and Paul Clapham.
We would like to give a special thanks to the many ladies from Comfort-Keepers who cared for Mom for many years including Monica, Lourdes, Jeanne, and Claudia.
Visitation will be held on Friday June 24, 2022 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at Hillcrest Funeral Home 1060 N. Carolina. Burial will follow at Ft. Bliss at 10:30 a.m.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.hillcrestfuneralhomeeast.com for the Stinnett family.
