Helen Louise Vaughan

Helen Louise Mercer Vaughan of Hellertown, PA died on December 5th, 2008 at her home. Born in Columbus, Ohio, March 20, 1907, she was the daughter of the late Harry B. and Charlotte (Roe) Mercer. Helen graduated from Holmes High School in Covington, KY in 1924. She was the wife of the late John C. Vaughan. They celebrated 57 years of marriage, living most of the time in Covington. During the Great Depression, Helen enjoyed gardening, canning, sewing and taking college courses in night school.

During World War II, Helen was a ‘Rosie the Riveter’ in a Curtis Wright defense plant in St. Louis, MO. After the war she worked for 20 years as the #1 saleslady in the major appliance department in the largest department store in Cincinnati, Ohio. All through Helen’s life it was important to her to be well read. All the classics, ancient history, modern history, well researched historical novels, current fiction (with no bad words) and Bible study were her favorites. Helen also enjoyed writing long letters to friends and relatives ages 9 to 90. She weekly wrote 15 page letters to her only daughter Jan Beer who was married to the late Warren Buck Beer, a military officer stationed stateside as well as overseas. Helen and husband John visited the Beers in 10 different states, Italy and Germany and were able to tour Europe as well. Three weeks in Greece was the highlight of Helen’s life at age 64. A widow at age 79, Helen moved to PA to live with the Beers. She then considered herself a ‘Pennsyltuckian’ enjoying the PA hills and dales as she did in KY. She became a member of the Cathedral Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Through the years, Helen enjoyed many happy hours with her grandchildren, David, Susi and Betsy. Her four great grandchildren brought her great joy as well. At age 101 Helen’s mind was still very sharp. She continued to read (sometimes until 2 AM). She still wrote long letters to friends and family and played bridge and scrabble weekly at home with friends. She enjoyed Share Care and neighborhood visitors thoroughly, seeing and hearing about the grand kids, great grand kids and nieces, watching Masterpiece Theater and loving her rescued Siamese cat YumYum. An acquaintance asked her what was her secret for living so long and she answered, “Well, I drank a lot of water and ate a lot of apples”. Helen will be missed indeed.

Survivors: Daughter Jan B. Beer of Hellertown. Grandson David Beer and wife Vicki of Bethlehem. Granddaughter Betsy J. Fitzsimmons, husband Paul Fitzsimmons and Great Grandsons John and Brian of Pembroke, MA. Great Granddaughter Amanda Jae Beer of Coplay. Great Granddaughter Jesse Anne Beer of New York City. Four Nieces: Lisa Mercer in KY, Jackie Mercer in Oregon, Joan Burgan in Florida and Phylis Jones in Florida.

Services: A memorial Service will be at 11:00 AM on December 22, at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity, 321 Wyandotte St., Bethlehem, PA 18015. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Cathedral Church Memorial Fund or Planned Parenthood of Northeast PA, 801 Ostrum Street. Bethlehem, PA 18015. The Falk Funeral Homes & Crematory of Hellertown is in charge of arrangements. For complete information, visit On-line Condolences at falkfuneralhomes.com.