Juareen LaMastus Helmbreck, 89, formerly of Wilmington, died April 17, at the Ruston Residence of Jenner's Pond Retirement Community in West Grove, following a long illness.
Helmbreck was born in December 1925 in Minter City, Miss., the daughter of B.H. LaMastus and Rubie J. Manning. She attended local schools and business college in Memphis, Tenn., before going to work during WWII as a secretary for the U.S. Army.
In 1949, she met Earl Helmbreck, a young graduate student at Columbia University, whom she later married and with whom she raised three daughters while he taught and attended graduate school in New York and Virginia before moving to Delaware to teach in 1963. She was a fulltime homemaker and devoted wife for 64 years. The couple divided their time after her husband's retirement between their home in north Wilmington and their summer home on Cape Neddick in Maine. They traveled extensively, spending part of each winter in Madeira, Portugal, for nearly 20 years.
Helmbreck was active in the Caesar Rodney Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Delaware Republican Party, serving for many years as a delegate to the party's state convention. She was also an enthusiastic gardener and antique collector who participated in an antique study group called “Questers.” For several years, she worked as a volunteer guide at Winterthur Museum and Gardens before the museum had a staff of permanent professional guides. She was also a member of Calvary Episcopal Church, Bellefonte, where she taught Sunday School and was on the Altar Guild.
She is survived by her loving husband of 64 years, Earl J. Helmbreck Jr.; three daughters, Alice Dewson (Tom) of Greenville; Valerie Mascitti (Albert) of Hockessin; Gretchen Gates (Carl Jr.) of Lewes; a brother, Jackie Lee LaMastus of Grenada, Miss.; one granddaughter, Dr. Alexis A. M. Mascitti of New York City; six grandsons, Carl S. Gates III of Tampa, Fla., Wilson C. Gates of Lewes; Matthew E.M. Mascitti of Philadelphia; Thomas E. Dewson of West Chester, Taylor M. Gates of Alexandria, Va., Ruben A.D. Mascitti of Philadelphia; and two great grandsons, Maximilian A. Mascitti of Philadelphia and Luke S. Brown of New York City, and two nieces, Missy LaMastus of Jackson, Miss. and Jeri Thompson of Drew, Miss.
Services will be at noon on Monday, May 4, in the Alison Community Center of Jenner's Pond Retirement Community, Greenbriar Lane, West Grove, PA 19390. Burial will be private.
Instead of flowers, the family suggests contributions to the American Diabetes Association, 150 Monument Road, Suite 100, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004 or diabetes.org.
To leave an online condolence, please visit www.griecocares.com
Arrangements by the Foulk & Grieco Funeral Home, West Grove, PA
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