HELGERS, Ruby Moore - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

MELLOTT — Mrs. William (Ruby Dell) Helgers, 77, of Mellott, died Friday morning in Community Hospital, Williamsport. Death was attributed to a massive heart attack. Mrs. Helgers, a life resident of Mellott, had been a newspaper correspondent since 1919. She was serving as Mellott correspondent for the Journal-Review. She was a member of United Church of Christ at Mellott and served as pianist, organist, teacher and vocalist there. She was past matron of Newtown Chapter OES and past president of Veedersburg American Legion Auxiliary and 6th District American Legion Auxiliary. She served on the Child Welfare Committee and assisted with the Indiana Soldiers and Sailors Children Home at Knightstown. She had been secretary and treasurer of the Mellott Town Board for the past 16 years. Born Aug, 6, 1900, at Mellott, she was the daughter of Stephen A. and Jenny Arter Moore. She married William Helgers of New York on Aug. 23, 1919, in the home of her parents at Mellott. He survives. Other survivors are a daughter, Mrs. Verner (Rosemary) Piety of Fisher, Ill.; two sons, William Albert and James Lowell, both of Mellott; eight grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by two brothers. The funeral will be 2 p.m. Monday in United Church of Christ at Mellott. The Rev. Robert Boyd will officiate. Burial will be in Newtown Cemetery. The body will be taken to the church one hour prior to the service. The body will lie in state at her home in Mellott where friends may call after 1 p.m. Sunday. Crumley-Williams Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.  --typed by Walt W

MELLOTT, Ind. -- Services will be Monday for Mrs. Ruby Dell Helgers, 77, the oldest active correspondent for The Commercial-News and a retired member of the Mellott town board. She died at 10:30 a.m. Friday (Aug. 4, 1978) at Community Hospital in Williamsport. Mrs. Helgers, a life resident of Mellott, had been stricken ill earlier that morning. Death was attributed to a heart attack. Mrs. Helgers had been a correspondent for the C-N and other area newspapers since 1919. She said in an interview in 1974 that she was encouraged to try her hand at writing by her uncle, Manaen Arter, former editor of an Attica newspaper and later managing editor of a Hoopeston, Ill., newspaper. For 16 years, Mrs. Helgers served as secretary-treasurer of the Mellott town board, retiring in 1976. She also initiated Flag Appreciation Day in Mellott and served as public relations chairman for the celebration each year since its founding in 1970. She explained once that she was inspired by the sale of flags and by so many residents flying their flags in Mellott that she suggested the slogan "Flag Town U.S.A." for the community. The Indiana legislature made it an official slogan for Mellott in 1971. In January 1977, The C-N did another interview with Mrs. Helgers about her sight suddenly improving so that she didn't have to wear glasses anymore. She said in the interview that she was driving along one day and suddenly she couldn't see. She pulled off the road, took off her glasses and then she could see. "I put my glasses back on when I got out of the car and they blurred my vision again," she said. "So I put my glasses away -- I never liked them anyway." She said she had worn bifocals for 25 or 30 years. A member of the United Church of Christ at Mellott, Mrs. Helgers served as its pianist and organist. She also taught the young people's Sunday School class for 25 years and most recently had taught the adult Sunday school class. In addition to her church and civic interests, Mrs. Helgers was active in Masonic and veterans' auxiliary activities. She was a member of the Newtown Chapter 282 Order of Eastern Star for more than 50 years and was a past worthy matron. She also was a member of the Charles Forrest American Legion Post 288 auxiliary of Veedersburg for more than 50 years, and was a past president of the unit and of the sixth district. She served on the auxiliary's Child Welfare Committee on both the local and district level. In addition, Mrs. Helgers was secretary of the Indiana state board of Soldiers and Sailors Home in Knightstown, was secretary of the Veterans Home Committee at Lafayette, and was state chairman of the Indiana Boys School. She had worked 10 years as a bookkeeper for Helgers Home Equipment. Her hobbies were writing poetry, quilting and music. She had taught music when she first was married. Also interested in traveling, she had visited every state except Alaska and Hawaii and had been to Canada and Mexico. Born Aug. 6, 1900 in Mellott, she was a daughter of Stephen A. and Jenny Arter Moore. She graduated from Mellott High School. On Aug. 23, 1919 in Mellott, she married William Helgers. He survives. Except for one year, the couple had lived all their married life in a house next door to where Mrs. Helgers was born and reared. The house, built in 1891, had been the residence of her grandfather, Joshua Moore, and is furnished almost completely with Civil War items. Survivors include two sons, William Albert and James Lowell, both of Mellott; a daughter, Mrs. Verner (Rosemary) Piety of Fisher, Ill.; eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Two brothers preceded her in death. Services will be 2 p.m. Monday at the United Church of Mellott.  --typed by Walt W