KIZZIE (KIT) LAURA ELKINS HELMLE, age 83, died peacefully on December 27, 2005, in Austin, Texas, with family by her side.
Born May 4, 1922, in Fannett, Texas, Kizzie always wanted to be a nurse, and to know her was to know she was a natural in this calling. She attended Hotel Dieu School of Nursing in Beaumont, trained under the Sisters of Charity of The Incarnate Word and graduated as an RN in 1944. She considered training under Catholic nuns “real training” and hospital staff nursing “real nursing.” She began her long and rewarding career at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Houston and retired from St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Beaumont in 1989. She served as President of her alumnae association for many consecutive terms and helped organize their annual meetings, which continue today.
A devout Christian and tireless supporter of the Southern Baptist faith, Kizzie believed every word of her Bible, which she read in its entirety many times throughout her life. She did not “preach” her faith, she lived it, and often said, “God loves us all, he just loves me a little more than most.”
Outspoken, witty, giving, and quick with advice, Kizzie was first and foremost non-judgmental. She fully embraced the diversities of loved ones or strangers and called the hands of those who did not. Her friends and your friends were her friends for life, and she cultivated those friendships, always, through frequent correspondence and phone calls, when she was unable to visit. Her house was your house, her garden was your garden, and her table was yours, too. She touched many lives and was eternally grateful for those who touched hers. She often said, “I’m right with my Maker and ready to go!” Indeed she was.
Kizzie is predeceased by her beloved husband, Herbert; her mother and father, Alexander and Lucille Rose Elkins; her sister, Blanche Sanders; and her brothe,r Gary Elkins. She is survived by her devoted and loving children, Elsie Dianne (Houston), James Travis and wife Darlene (Golden, CO), Laura Noreen and husband Chuck Hughes (Austin), Kathi Anne and husband Jim Hislop (Austin). She was the loving aunt of Dianne Richard, Rosemary Gill, Gary and Jim Elkins, Pauline Breaux, Iris Meyers, and Lance and Joy Richard and their three children, Tyler, Chloe and Caylee. She cherished her grand-dogs and grand-cats and an extended circle of treasured friends, nursing alum, neighbors, and caregivers, all of whom she considered family.
She loved flowers. She also loved the scholarship fund for student nurses that she helped establish and gave to generously.
Funeral services will be 2:00 P.M. Sunday, January 1, 2006 at Broussard’s, 2000 McFaddin, Beaumont with Reverend Big Jim Salles, presiding. Burial will follow at Landrum Cemetery in Fannett with Gary William Elkins, Jim Hislop, J.E. Howard, Chuck Hughes, Lance Richard and Maurice Richard serving as pallbearers. A gathering of family and friends will begin at 1:00 P.M. Sunday, January 1, 2006 prior to the service at the Mortuary.
Contributions in her memory may be made to: Hotel Dieu School of Nursing, addressed to: HDSN Scholarship Fund, c/o Treasurer, 13317 Hwy 326 North, Kountze, Texas 77625.
