Linda Helbach

LINDA REYNOLDS HELBACH Linda Carol Reynolds Helbach, born October 25, 1948, to Wayne and Hazel Reynolds of Little, died June 19, 2018, in her home in the Houston suburb of Fulshear, Texas. Linda was raised in the community of Little, north of Seminole where her parents and her Aunt Mable Jackson ran a country grocery store for over 50 years.  Her father preceded her in death in 1966 and her mother in 2014. She attended Prairie Valley and Seminole Public Schools before graduating from SHS in 1966.  She was secretary of her Senior Class and voted “Most Likely to Succeed.”  She also performed in several choir quartets and ensembles, and served as accompanist for the Glee Club. Linda attended Oklahoma State University in Stillwater where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education in 1970.  She later received a Master’s degree in Counseling from Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas in 1996. She began her teaching career in Ponca City, Oklahoma, before taking a leave of absence to raise her two daughters.  After relocating to the Houston area, she began a 20-year career with the Katy Independent School District.  During her time teaching second grade at Diane Winborn Elementary she was recognized as “Teacher of the Year.” She moved into administration as a Language Arts Specialist and an Instructional Coordinator in the mid-1990s. In 2006, Linda was named Executive Director of Curriculum, overseeing the implementation of classroom curriculum and professional development training for 27 elementary schools in the Katy system, plus 12 junior high schools and 6 high schools.  Following retirement from the Katy school system in 2009, Linda was an adjunct instructor for two years at the University of Houston Downtown campus teaching reading instruction to education undergraduates.  An accomplished writer and presenter, Linda authored curriculum educational materials and presented to educators at numerous conferences and seminars in Oklahoma and Texas. Linda’s lifelong love of language, grammar and poetry was reflected in hundreds of poems written for classroom instruction, as well as special occasions for co-workers, family and friends.  She shared her insights and reflections on politics, religion, education and more light-hearted topics through her poetry.  Often the prose were written on a napkin or scrap piece of paper and later transferred to formal postcards or framed for gifts. Her absolute pride and joy was celebrating the successes of her grandchildren in their academic, athletic and music endeavors.  She spent much of her time in retirement watching them perform and compete. She was a member of the Cinco Ranch Church of Christ in Katy, Texas, and a major supporter for the effort to rebuild the church’s facilities after they were destroyed by Hurricane Harvey in August, 2017. She was an avid Oklahoma State University athletic booster, and a member of the OSU Posse Club.  Linda was a duplicate bridge player and competed in tournaments in the Houston area, as well as in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  She was a member of the American Contract Bridge League and obtained the title of “Sectional Master.” She is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Amy and Geoff Nielsen of Bixby, Oklahoma, and Jana and Pedro Colá½�n of Katy, Texas and four grandchildren:  Alyssa, Ashley and Jacob Nielsen and Jonah Colá½�n.  She is also survived by a brother and sister-in-law Dan and Jill Reynolds and a sister, Lana Reynolds, all of Seminole.             Linda is also survived by a host of close friends, including colleagues Darla Pollard and Meredith Gunn, as well as former teachers known as the “Steel Magnolias” – Donna Sparks, Beverly Cragg, Sandi Petty and Janine Phillips. Memorial contributions may be made in her honor to the Wayne and Hazel Reynolds Scholarship Fund at Seminole State College – a fund she established with a major gift to the SSC Educational Foundation in 2010 which has provided financial assistance to dozens of SSC students over the past decade.  Checks made payable to the SSC Educational Foundation, and earmarked for the Reynolds Scholarship, may be mailed to the SSC President’s Office, P.O. Box 351, Seminole, OK  74818. Memorial donations may also be made in support of Endometrial Cancer Research through the American Cancer Society at the www.cancer.org website. Services for Linda will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, June 22, 2018, in Katy, Texas at Schmidt Funeral Home in Katy, with Bo Pugh, minister of the Cinco Ranch Church of Christ presiding. A memorial service will be conducted at the Church of Christ at Little at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 27, 2018, under the direction of Swearingen Funeral Home in Seminole, Oklahoma.Burial will follow at the Little Cemetery. Casket bearers will be Brad Reynolds, Brent Mercer, Jim Hardin, Jeff Davis, J. Carl Guymon and Tex Gleichman. Funeral Information: June 27, 2018, 10:30 PM Church of Christ of Little located at Hwy 99 N, Seminole, OK 74868