Helen Passwater, 76, of Dowling Park, Florida, died April 2 in Lake City, Florida, from a head injury incurred from a fall at home on March 29.

Helen was the daughter of Rex and Shirley Passwater.

She was born in Knox County, July 12, 1938 and moved to Princeton with her family in 1945.

She was a 1956 graduate of Princeton High School and received a BS in Nursing from Evansville College. She also studied midwifery in Hyden, Kentucky and completed a year of graduate studies at Columbia Bible College in Columbia, South Carolina.

Helen was known for her kind and generous way of reaching out in service of those needing help. She undertook a course of study with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Norman, Oklahoma before going to Guatemala in the 1960s in service as a Christian missionary. There she ran a clinic out of her home as the only medical clinician in the region. For several years, she worked alongside other Wycliffe missionaries who worked to translate the local dialect of Quiche people into written language. Helen helped teach the native people to read, and assisted in translating the New Testament into their language. She continued service in Guatemala for 25 years, which included providing medical services and other support to victims of a devastating earthquake in 1976. After returning to the U.S. in 1991, she settled in Dallas, Texas, providing nursing care to relatives and friends until moving to Advent Christian Village in Dowling Park for retirement in 2008 along with her dear friends and roommates, Catherine Rountree and Pat Powell.

Helen was a long-time member of Enon General Baptist Church in Princeton, whose congregation provided generous financial support to Helen throughout her time as a missionary and into retirement.

Helen was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, James Passwater Sr. She is survived by her sisters, Ruth Stewart (Robert), Wanda Stewart (the late Orville), Rosemary Powers (the late Eugene), and Jane Laster (Robert); and many nieces and nephews.

Arrangements were made by ICS Cremations in Lake City, FL.