Helen Gallia Larkin went to be with the Lord on Wednesday, March 15, 2017. Helen was born on March 28, 1918 in Woodsboro, Texas. Helen was preceded in death by her parents, Melvin “Bert” Gallia and Ethel Hargrove Gallia and her brother, Melvin Gallia, Jr.
When Helen was born, her father was playing professional baseball. During her first nine years, Helen’s dad continued to play baseball. She traveled by train and automobile to many, many different cities to watch Melvin play ball. She got to see such famous players as Walter Johnson and Babe Ruth play.
When Helen was six her little brother, Melvin Jr. was born. Tragically, at the age of 5 he contracted tetanus and died. Helen and her parents grieved for the rest of their lives for little Melvin.
Each fall, Helen would return to Woodsboro to attend school. She graduated as Valedictorian of her class in 1935. Wanting to attend college by unable to afford it, Helen attended business college and then began working. Helen met and married Cecil Scott who had come to play baseball on one of the teams her dad coached. One son, Arlon Martin Scott, was born before the marriage ended.
Helen met James Easton Poore when he was hurt in a pipeline accident and came to see the doctor where she worked as the bookkeeper. They fell in love and married. They raised a blended family with Arlon, James’ two sons, Jimmie Knox Poore and Kenneth Craig Poore. Together they had three daughters, Jalyne Chant, Sherry Lewis, and Elyse Allen. After World War II ended, James was discharged from the Marines, and he and Helen and their children and her parents moved away from Woodsboro to Natalia and finally Devine.
Helen worked all her life as a bookkeeper for several companies.
After James’s untimely death, Helen married Michael Larkin in 1960. She and Mike shared a love of sports and Helen became a golfer. She was also an excellent swimmer and enjoyed fishing. For a time, Helen and Mike owned a vacation home at Falcon Lake where they would relax and fish on weekends. They also loved traveling and bought a motor home and travelled throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Helen loved to dance, also, and could do a mean Charleston when pressed by her daughters to show them the moves.
Helen had a passion for life and was a woman of many talents. Besides her dancing and love of sports, she was an eclectic reader. She was an accomplished artist and did many oil paintings to her family’s delight. She sewed, knitted, and crocheted. She also loved gardening and taking care of her dogs.
Besides her parents and younger brother, Helen was preceded in death by her two stepsons, Jimmy Knox Poore and Kenneth Craig Poore.
Helen is survived by her husband of 56 years, Michael Larkin, son Arlon Scott and wife Patricia, daughters Jalyne Chant and her husband Ivan, Sherry Lewis, and Elyse Allen and her husband Ken, 17 grandchildren, as well as many great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held Wednesday, March 22, 2017 at 11:00 am at the Hurley Funeral Home in Devine. There will be no visitation at the Hurley Funeral Home in Devine prior to the service. Services will conclude at the funeral home.
Arrangements are under the direction of Hurley Funeral Home.