Last Words
February 1, 2011 - by
One of best things The News & Observer ever did was to get rid of staff-written obituaries. Now, friends and family members write their own. So the obit page has some of the most interesting stories in the paper.
Witness today’s portrayal of Helen Daniels, “a quintessential Outer Banker, (who) passed away peacefully, in the presence of her family, in her home overlooking Shallow Bag Bay
Helen’s father was a Coast Guardsman, and her grandfather, a member of “the National Lifesaving Service that helped the Wright Brothers on the day of the First Flight in 1903.”
Helen herself was a high school basketball star, the wife of a Manteo town leader, a real estate agent “and also worked for the Coastland Times, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Selective Service”
She worked for the Red Cross in World War II and was a Boy Scout leader (yes, Boy Scouts). “She was co-founder of the Friends of Roanoke Island, which addressed environmental causes affecting the Island . She started an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in the old Manteo town hall.”
And then, this, at the end of her lengthy obit: “One final exaltation: Helen Daniels was a Democrat.”
I’m sure there’s a special place for her in heaven.
Posted in General
Last Words
February 1, 2011/
One of best things The News & Observer ever did was to get rid of staff-written obituaries. Now, friends and family members write their own. So the obit page has some of the most interesting stories in the paper.
Witness today’s portrayal of Helen Daniels, “a quintessential Outer Banker, (who) passed away peacefully, in the presence of her family, in her home overlooking Shallow Bag Bay
Helen’s father was a Coast Guardsman, and her grandfather, a member of “the National Lifesaving Service that helped the Wright Brothers on the day of the First Flight in 1903.”
Helen herself was a high school basketball star, the wife of a Manteo town leader, a real estate agent “and also worked for the Coastland Times, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Selective Service”
She worked for the Red Cross in World War II and was a Boy Scout leader (yes, Boy Scouts). “She was co-founder of the Friends of Roanoke Island, which addressed environmental causes affecting the Island . She started an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in the old Manteo town hall.”
And then, this, at the end of her lengthy obit: “One final exaltation: Helen Daniels was a Democrat.”
I’m sure there’s a special place for her in heaven.
Posted in General