Graveside service for Helen Riffe will be 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, December 22, 2021 at Tyrone Cemetery, Tyrone, Oklahoma. Friends may visit at the funeral home on Sunday, December 19, from 1pm-6pm, with family receiving visitors from 4pm-6pm.
A memorial Service for Helen will be 10:00 a.m., Monday, January 10, 2022 at First Baptist Church.
Helen Regina (Bonner) Riffe went to her eternal home with her Lord and Savior December 11, 2021 at the age of 106. Born December 1, 1915 to Stephen Jacob Bonner and Nellie Belle (Embree) Bonner, the third of six children. She and her siblings helped in their mother's flower shop in Guymon as they got older. Helen attended college at Panhandle State University in Goodwell, Oklahoma where she received a degree in Home Economics. As a teacher she prepared many high school students with the necessary skills to become independent after graduation.
Helen met the great love of her life and married Gerald Leroy Riffe on October 4, 1941. Gerald served in WWII as a navel officer. After the war they moved to Baker, Oklahoma where Gerald became a member of the family grain business. Their family grew with the birth of their first child Gerald and later a daughter Regina.
Helen was an active member of Tyrone First Baptist Church, teaching Sunday school, helping with vacation Bible school, and always ready to help in any way. She was active in the small community. She was an avid gardener always having a large vegetabel garden, fruit trees, and grapevines. Her pickles and chowchow were a family favorite. Helen and Gerald welcomed everyone into their home with great hospitality and wonderful meals. She had a great collection of good friends and good recipes.
In 2006 they moved to Claremore, Oklahoma to be closer to family. Upon joining First Baptist Claremore she found many new friends and enjoyed her new church community. Then in 2009 she moved into Brookedale Assisted Living.
She is preceded in death by her husband Gerald Riffe, 2010. Survived by her son Judge Gerald Henry Riffe and his wife Laura; and their children Joseph (wife Sydney), Anna, Stephen, and Elizabeth Hawbaker (husband Owen). Daughter Regina and her husband Dr. John Battle, and their children Dr. Justin Battle (wife Stephanie) and daughter Mindy (husband Jimmy Jones); and 8 great grandchildren.
Matthew 11:5. "The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the dead are raised from the dead, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor". Helen was very hard of hearing now she can hear a pin drop. She had glaucoma, now she sees clearly. She was confined to a wheelchair, now she can walk, run, and fall on her knees before God. Helen is now living in her eternal home that Jesus prepared for her.
The family thanks the Brookdale staff and associates for the loving care over the years. Donations may be made to Tyrone Baptist Church, 401 North Florence, Tyrone, Oklahoma 73951, or First Baptist Church Claremore, 107 East Will Rogers Blvd., Claremore, Oklahoma 74017.