Helen Fox

Helen Muriel (Buurma) Fox
Born in Kalamazoo, Michigan on September 3, 1919. Her parents split up when she was nine, and though she was under the custody of her father, Herman, she was raised for several years under the loving care of her grandparents, and in her mid-to-late teens by her dearest Aunt Ret. She attended Central High School in Kalamazoo, studied ballet, sang in the choir at a Methodist church, and aspired to be an opera singer.
While still in high school, she also worked at the local newspaper printing office. There she met Bob Fox, who was also working there during summer break from the University of Michigan. They fell in love, and carried on a mostly long-distance romance for two years while Bob finished his schooling and Helen attended college in Kalamazoo. They were married in 1939… a marriage that would last 58 years.
They both worked after marriage, Bob as a salesman and Helen as a buyer in a local department store. After the United States entered World War II, Bob enlisted in the Army. Helen soon gave up her buyer job to become a homemaker and a military wife. It was a career that lasted 30 years and took her to many ports of call.
After being stationed in Miami Beach, Florida, Helen gave birth to the first of her three children, Bob, Jr, whom Helen raised alone for the first two years of his life, as Bob Sr. was shipped to Guam. This would become a pattern, that as a military homemaker, Helen would have the responsibility of raising her children for short, and sometimes, extended periods of time while Bob was away on assignments.
In 1946, Helen and Bob, Jr., joined Bob, Sr. on the island of Guam. Helen liked to recount that fact that the rats that shared their hut in Guam became so familiar that Bob and Helen gave them pet names. From Guam it was back to Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. There, Helen had her two other two children, Karen and Randy.
After Texas, Helen moved her family often. Stops included: Rabat, Morocco; Tripoli, Libya; Ramstein, Germany; Dayton, Ohio; and Denver, Colorado. With each stop, Helen worked hard to create a new home and maintain a sense of continuity for the children. She took pride in each home, and would ensure that the home was spotlessly clean, homey, and had a well-tended yard. Her greatest pride was the home she created in Denver, with scenic landscaping, immaculate yard, and beautiful rose bushes. Perhaps most difficult for her was the family's 10-week stop in Washington, D.C., where the family lived in a tiny trailer in the middle of the hot, humid summer ... with no air-conditioning. But to the kids, that trailer still became home.
Helen and Bob took full advantage of their new assignments. Travel and sight seeing were always tops on the family's agenda. The Foxes visited many of the cities and historic sights throughout Europe, North Africa, and throughout the United States.
To maintain a sense of normalcy in these strange, exotic places, military life demanded the ability to entertain, and Helen was an exceptional hostess. She began to develop the decorating skills that became one of her hallmarks. As an active member of the military wives clubs, her bridge playing acumen grew and she became an expert player.
The end of the military career in 1967 saw the beginning of a regular civilian life starting in Hawthorne, California, where Bob, Sr. had landed a post-military job at Northrop Aircraft. Even though Helen continued her homemaking role, the L.A. area never felt like home to Helen. But during this time, Bob and Helen first became acquainted with Mountain Mesa in the Lake Isabella, Kern River area. Eventually, with all the children out on their own, they chose to retire there in 1977.
Helen loved Mountain Mesa and the fact that she now had a permanent home. She had many friends and participated in many activities in the area.  She was President of her TOPS group, a frequent participant in Elk’s lodge and VFW events and organizer of the local bridge club. It was here that Helen developed a talent for ceramics and she turned out many beautifully painted and fired pieces from her own kilns.
Helen was well known for the creativity and beauty of her holiday home decorations. Every Christmas, Easter, Halloween, and Thanksgiving her home was turned into magnificent celebration of that holiday. Her family always looked forward to seeing how her new decorations for the year were integrated into the old.
For the past 30 years, Helen attended church in her home through the "Hour of Power" with Robert Schuller, her beloved Pastor. She contributed regularly to his ministry at the Crystal Cathedral. She loved to worship the Lord and knew Jesus as her personal savior.
In '1997 marked the passing of Bob, Sr. and shortly thereafter Helen’s health also took a negative turn necessitating her leaving Mountain Mesa.
For the past 7 years she has resided under the loving care of her daughter Karen and husband Bill, in Palmdale, California.
Helen passed away on May 27, 2012 in Palmdale, Calif.
You may sign the condolence book at:  www.chapelofthevalleymortuary.com.
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