Grandma Helen, 1924-2009

My grandmother, Helen Shuman Heaton, passed away on Feb. 6. She had been in a car accident last summer and had struggled to recover, so it wasn't wholly unexpected. Still, it has been sad to lose someone who has been such a an important figure in my life. I have a seemingly endless supply of entertaining Grandma Helen stories, and I love sharing them with people.

I flew to Salt Lake City for the funeral, and I'm very glad I did. It was a wonderful celebration of her life, and all her grandchildren were there. Each of the grandchildren composed a tribute, and these were displayed at the funeral. Here is what I wrote:

Right up to the sad day when I learned of her death, I was telling stories about my wonderful Grandma Helen. I was in London that day, and I was staying in a boarding house with other professors who were with me directing and teaching a London study abroad program. I had told the stories of how, in order to keep me from leaving her side, Grandma would warn me about a witch who lurked in supermarkets and department stores, ready to snatch little children who had wandered off alone. I told them about the baboon who lived outside her house that only Grandma could see, no matter how many times her grandchildren ran from window to window, desperate to catch a glimpse of it. I told them about her beauty secret—a face-mask made of mashed overripe bananas and honey. I told them about how, while visiting us in Arizona, she dressed as a Mammy figure from a long-gone South that she could still remember and burst into my high school Spanish class to ask my date to the prom for me.

All who knew her cherish their own stories about Helen Heaton, and sometimes I wonder if Grandma didn’t live her life in such a way so that those who loved her would have unique and amusing tales to remember her by.

But even more than the vivid and funny stories I fondly recall about her, I treasure memories of her equally unique and charming personality. Grandma seemed afraid of no one, and she was eager to make friends of everyone she met. She even made friends of entire strangers within the time it took them to travel the length of the escalators at ZCMI with her! Her sunny disposition was infectious, and when she was happy (“tickeled,” she called it), she would burst into a hearty laughter that always betrayed her still-girlish charm and her young, fresh, and optimistic outlook on life. She chose to pass her time with those she loved most; I spent a great deal of my growing up years in the company of my grandmother as she doted on me, played games with me, invented and sang silly songs to me, and took me on shopping adventures.

Grandma Helen always shared with others that which was most important and precious to her—her life. I know she passed from this world sharing her life and her sunny, warmhearted self with others.

I miss you now and always, Grandma.

Love, your grandson,
John

Here's a photo of me and Grandma and my Grandpa Bud at my sister's wedding: