Helen Elizabeth Stockwell Vatcher passed away peacefully on Feb. 28, 2025, at Frye’s Care Home in Cutten, California. She was 95.
Helen Stockwell was born in Cleveland, Ohio, but her family soon moved to California. She attended Los Angeles High School and Scripps College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in art. While working summers at Sequoia National Park, she met James Gordon Vatcher (died 2017). They soon married and had six children.
The family moved to Humboldt County in 1963, where Helen fell in love with the redwood forests and began painting again, specializing in oils. She soon met Hobart Brown and exhibited paintings at his art gallery in Eureka, and became part of his artist stable when he relocated to Ferndale.
After her divorce in 1972, Helen earned a master’s degree in counseling and worked at ECCE House in Eureka as a marriage and family therapist, working with encounter groups and dream therapy groups. She continued painting throughout, and was most recently a member of the Old Town Art Gallery in Eureka.
Helen enjoyed camping and vacationing in Europe with her dear friend Judy Bradford. She especially loved conversations with friends and hearing other people’s stories.
Helen was preceded in death by her children Marshall and Mary (Titterington) and her grandson Ian (Titterington).
She is survived by her children Michael, Howard, Donald and Kimberly (Smith), grandchildren Jamie, Louis, William, Alan, and Andrew (Smith) and great-grandsons Ozcar and Cortez.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 10, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 24 Fellowship Way, Bayside, California.
Owners of Helen’s paintings are invited to bring them to share at the service.
This article appears in 10 Foliies Anniversary.