Simpson, Helen (Porter) 1909-2004

SIMPSON, PORTER, RANDALL, MCCLEARY, JOHNSON

Posted By: Debbie Nash (email)
Date: 8/20/2004 at 15:25:34

Helen Porter Simpson
August 19, 2004

Helen Porter Simpson, 95, of Des Moines and formerly of Batavia, died earlier this month in Des Moines.

A funeral in Des Moines preceded burial at Agency Cemetery in Agency.

Mrs. Simpson was the daughter of William E. Porter of Batavia and Hetha "Hettie" Randall of Garden Grove. She married Lester Simpson; he later died.

The Porter family moved from Decatur County to Egbert, Wyo., to homestead. They later resided in Oregon and Scotia, Calif., where her father worked in the logging business. After her mother died in 1912, she moved with her family to the home of her paternal grandmother, Rosanne McCleary Porter, in Batavia, where she attended school. Her father married Clara Johnson of Agency in 1919. The family later moved to Ottumwa.

After graduation from Ottumwa High School in 1926 and studies at Iowa Success, she became a stenographer in Washington, D.C., then transferred to the Department of Veterans Affairs office in Des Moines.

She and her husband adopted three children.

Survivors include two children, Gloria and Steve Simpson.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by one daughter, Alberta; and nine siblings.

Courtesy of the Fairfield Daily Ledger Inc. 2004