Black, Helen L (Mrs. Paul Bio) 1973-2020

BLACK, BIO

Posted By: Marjorie Brunsting-Volunteer (email)
Date: 6/13/2021 at 20:33:37

Mrs. Helen Black, age 46, of Orange City, passed away on Friday, May 29, 2020, at the Sanford Heart Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The Oolman Funeral Home assisted the family.

She is survived by her husband of 20 years, Paul Bio, of Orange City, Iowa; her sons Lucas Anthony Black, and Adam Lee Black, and her mother, Joan Parker Black, all of Mebane, NC; her sisters Joanne Black Lemmo, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Susan Ann Yearling, of Zionsville Indiana. She was preceded in death by one sister, Linda Joan Young of Raphine, Virginia, who passed away in 2012; and her father, John Martin Black, who passed away in 2019. She had many nieces and nephews, Nicole Lemmo, Caitlin Young, Christopher Young, Emily Yearling, Steven Lemmo, Michael Yearling, Eric Young, Sarah Yearling and Parker Young.

First and foremost, Helen loved her family. She fiercely adored her boys; she was so proud of their accomplishments and admired who they had become as young men. She was the youngest of 4 sisters, a tight family blended by a heritage from an Australian mother and an American father and cultivated by expatriate travel during their school years. Her extended family in Australia remained very close to her heart as she communicated frequently with cousins sharing laughs, photos, stories and opinions on favorite topics.

Helen’s family traveled extensively; living abroad in Malaysia and Papua New Guinea before returning to North Carolina in 1983. Her passion for horses and other animals began at an early age. She excelled in patience and persistence in training horses at all stages of development. She had an ability to sense the insecurity of an animal and slowly gain trust and love. She cared for horses all her life. She loved horses and they loved her. Her horses,Tahra and Sunny, will be gently cared for by her husband.

Helen studied business and marketing at Guilford and University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She met and married Paul Bio, the love of her life, whilst working at a horse farm. He also shares a passion and love for horses and they worked together training and caring for horses. She loved her boys and family with the same unwavering commitment.

Her life was disrupted by the diagnosis of Type I diabetes along with debilitating back pain, but each day she lived with humor, fierce wit and immense love for her family and friends.

Helen was blessed with a tremendous gift of writing and humor. Despite the limitations her health put on her, she continually made us laugh and open our eyes to the world as she saw it. She was very active on social media and enjoyed sharing her sense of humor with many friends and family.

Helen is a gift to this life and the next. She will never be forgotten. Her life has ended, but she will live within us all each and every day.

We will have a memorial service in Mebane, NC at a date when a gathering can be safely planned. In lieu of flowers, donations are suggested to American Diabetes Association www.diabetes.org, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), www.jdrf.org or Cedar Grove United Methodist Church, Efland-Cedar Grove Road, Cedar Grove, NC.https://www.facebook.com/cedargroveumccedargrove

Source: Oolman Funeral Home online obituary.