Helen Landers
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Helen Benson was born to Roy and Margaret Benson on December 20, 1931, in the house of her maternal grandparents on Gay Street in Menard. Two sisters, Mildred and Ramona, were older and Lila and Betty Sue were younger. Betty Sue died in early childhood, and the 4 remaining sisters spent an early lifetime together in play, in school, and family reunions. In later years they remained close and enjoyed many visits together with their families.
Helen's early life continued on the ranch near Ellis School in southwest Menard County . In the middle of first grade, the family moved to Menard and Helen entered the first grade with teacher Mrs. Hazel Crabb and a student named Jakie Landers. Helen had a good singing voice and often sang for Mother's meetings and church functions.
The family lived in a house on Gay Street across the street from the Menard Elementary School through her school years in Menard. In the summer they moved back to the ranch 14 miles out of town where she participated in many ranching chores, including riding horseback to herd sheep and goats, getting goats out of the fence, stacking Prickly pear cactus, opening gates for her Dad, and helping bale hay. For fun the girls made playhouses in the Shinoak thickets and swam in the tank when the shadow of the house reached a certain rock in the walk.
Helen brought her horse to town and rode to piano practice. She delivered milk in a quart jar to Grandmother Bradford every evening on foot. In addition to her horse and the milk cow there were chickens, and for a brief time her 4-H Club pig, Rosie, in the back yard.
In the 5th grade Helen began playing a cornet in the band. She was active in sports and school dances. The high school burned down in her junior year, and because she had been going to summer school, and with correspondence courses she graduated early from Menard High School in 1949 and entered Hendricks Nursing School in Abilene with money she had made on her 4-H pig project. She had bought a Model A which helped her and many of her classmates through three years of nursing school. She became a Registered Nurse and passed the state board in 1952 and began working in Labor and Delivery at Hendricks. She traded in her Model A for a new white Chevrolet Coupe.
After a year at Hendricks Helen moved to San Angelo and worked at the Clinic Hospital as Supervisor of Obstetrical Care. By then Jake was a student at Texas A. & M. and it took a lot of letter writing and long distance calls and rare brief meetings to test their affections for each other.
Helen and Jake (Roger Q Landers, Jr.) were married on June 4, 1954, in the First Baptist Church of Menard. Then they were off to College Station where Jake was a graduate student. Helen began working in newborn intensive care at St. Joseph's, a Catholic Hospital in Bryan.
Jake finished his M. S. degree just before Army duty in September 1955 at Ft. Eustis, Virginia. Helen was stuck with the job of being a military wife for two years, and so as not to waste the time had Roger III, June 15, 1956, in the military hospital. In August 1957 she moved to Berkeley, California, where Jake continued graduate school as a Danforth Fellow. Helen's main role was in helping Roger grow up among children of many races and nationalities in student housing. She worked at Alta Bates Hospital in Oakland in newborn and intensive care until Amy Dorrit was born in September 1959.
From California it was a brief visit with families in Texas the last week of December 1961 then north to Iowa in January where Jake had accepted a job at Iowa State University with a brand new Ph. D.
Adapting to the Iowa winter was difficult coming from California and Texas. With Amy bundled up and riding in a wagon, Helen and Roger would walk the two block to his Kindergarten school. Helen began taking classes at Iowa State University, often with Barbara Christiansen, close friend and wife of one of Jake's graduate students. She began working at Mary Greeley Hospital where she was supervisor of newborns, then at Boone Hospital. To continue her studies and reduce her work load Helen began working with the Home Health Visiting Nurse Agency of Ames and continued until 1979 when it was time to return to Texas, where Jake had a job at San Angelo with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service.
In San Angelo Helen started working at Community Hospital as a Registered Nurse in newborn and intensive care then hired on as a nurse at the State School at Carlsbad for the next ten years. After retiring from the state school she worked with San Angelo Home Health and Hospice of San Angelo as a nurse, then as a volunteer for Hospice.
An accident at the ranch in 2003 left Jake with a broken leg which led to complications along with his hip replacements to a cardiac arrest in 2004 and many days in the hospital in San Angelo and Abilene with a diagnosis of Myasthenia gravis. Helen, now a nurse to her husband, helped get him back on his feet with loving care and dedication.
In 2011 Helen came to the Menard Manor as a patient, and the next year Jake joined her in adjoining rooms in the retirement wing, sold their house in San Angelo, and began getting reacquainted with Menard after an absence of many years.
Helen leaves behind her husband of 66 years, sister Mildred Yates, son Roger & Karen and daughter Amy & Jon Ness, grandchildren and spouses Matt & Katie Ness, Drew & Nicki Ness, Michelle & Tyler Kubik, nine great grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.
A few years ago one could see Helen following Jake on his scooter on the way to the bank or library, or in the pickup heading east to the Pecan orchard or south to the ranch where Helen was again the gate opener and care giver keeping Jake out of trouble. Helen would like any gifts to go to Hospice of San Angelo (HOSA).
Funeral arrangements are entrusted to Heritage Funeral Home of Menard.
Please view Mrs. Landers' online memorial at www.heritagefuneralhome.com