Helen Stilwell

Helen Stilwell, longtime Sinclair resident, died Monday, October 12, 2020, at the age of 97. Born in Huntingburg, Indiana, on June 21, 1923, to parents Toby and Cora (Ringham) Stork, she married Raymond (Jim) Stilwell and moved with him to Sinclair in 1943, where they established a home and raised their family.

Until her children were grown, she was a homemaker. Like her mother before her, she was an excellent cook. She specialized in desserts. Her lemon meringue pies, popcorn balls and orange slice cookies were family favorites.

Later she enjoyed a career at J. C. Penney’s and at Bonnie’s Dress Shop, where she managed the Merle Norman counter. She loved selling clothes and buying them for herself. She was notorious for bringing home a purchase and secreting it under a bed, hoping her husband wouldn’t notice. He always did but chose not to remark on it.

Helen and her family loved Snowy Range and with close family friends spent wonderful summers in trailers in South Brush Creek and Lincoln Park. She was to return to South Brush campground years later where she enjoyed summers in a tent trailer, once again cooking pancakes in the morning and popping popcorn in the evening with her daughter.

She looked forward to traveling, spending time in the Tetons and Yellowstone, and taking trips to the Oregon coast, Vancouver B.C., Disneyland, and Hawaii. Her hobbies included ceramics, gardening, reading, word searches and summer walks around Sinclair. Solitaire was her card game of choice, where she occasionally beat Sol.

She was preceded in death by her husband, (Raymond), her brother (Albert), and her daughter (Judith Ann Austin).

She is survived by son Lanny (Barbara) and daughter Glenda, granddaughter Megan, grandson Sean (Sarah), and their children.

The family is grateful for those who loved her and who continued to remember her in the difficult last eighteen months of her life.

A private graveside service and a celebration of life will be held at a later time.