Helyn VaLou Graham

HELYN VALOU GRAHAM

Brooklyn

Helyn VaLou Graham, 92, of LaGrange, Ga., and formerly of Brooklyn, Iowa, passed away on Sunday, May 27, 2018, at West Georgia Hospice in LaGrange, Ga. Funeral services will be held Friday, June 1, at 2 p.m. at Kruse-Phillips Funeral Home in Tama, with Pastor Charles Johnson officiating. Interment will follow at Haven Cemetery in rural Tama. Visitation will be held Friday from 11 a.m. until the time of service at 2 p.m. at the funeral home.

Helyn was born on Dec. 8, 1925, in Salida, Colo., the daughter of Thomas Newton and Rosa Edna (Rutledge) Williams.

Her family moved to El Reno, Okla., in 1928, where they lived until 1942. In 1942, the family relocated to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where Helen graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1943.

She married Richard Allen Graham in 1944, and lived on the farm in Poweshiek County for 57 years. Following Richard's death, she married Robert G. Allard and relocated to Urbana, Iowa, in 2001. Helyn was a faithful member of Haven Community Church and Center Point United Methodist Church. She continued to worship at First Baptist Church in LaGrange, Ga. Her greatest joy was her children and stepchildren and their families.

Survivors include her three children, Timothy Allan and Frances Grimes Graham of Valdosta, Ga., Robbiejean and Donald Miller of LaGrange, Ga., and William Scott and Hether Wyman Graham of Goshen, Ind. She leaves 14 grandchildren; 28 great-grandchildren; six great-great-grandchildren; and two sisters-in-law, Sheila Williams of Marion, Iowa, and Carolyn Williams of Jamestown, Ky.

Preceding her in death were her parents; her husband, Richard Graham; one daughter and her husband, Daniel and VaLou Brunell; one son and his wife, Kevin and Lora Johnson Graham; one grandson, Mark John Graham; five brothers; and three sisters.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Haven Community Church, 2482 380th St., Tama, IA 52339.