Helen Frances Perkins

Born January 16 1924
Died October 15, 2024

Helen came into this world as her parents and three older siblings were moving from Missouri to Colorado for their health. They made a stop in Pueblo, Colo. to give birth. Helen was the fourth child in a family of eight surviving kids. In the Denver area, Helen grew up on a strawberry farm. She and her family always worked hard.

In 1945, she met and married Richard Dye. Together, they moved to southern California and had two children, Richard and Connie. Helen’s second marriage was to Don Perkins. They both ran catering trucks in Southern California.

In 1972, they bought property up in Humboldt County. Helen sent her daughter, Connie, up to manage the property first, and then they eventually made the move soon after.

Helen and Don had 22 acres in Whitethorn where she was widely known as Helen from “Helen’s Greenhouse.” People from all over southern Humboldt knew of her and bought produce and fruit from her and Don. Helen had a 100-foot commercial greenhouse and Don ran a fruit business, where he brought peaches and melons and more up from Central California. These business ventures were how they met a lot of people.

Everyone who met Helen knew how non-judgmental and kind she was. She was a dedicated member of the Miranda SDA church for many years. Eventually, in the early 1990s, she moved to the Little Golden Gate subdivision in the Bridgeville community, and with her acre of land, she transformed a simple lot into a garden paradise.

Her 36-foot greenhouse was built before her new house, and she resumed growing flowers and vegetables. Her daughter’s family moved across the road a few years later and her two grandchildren, daughter, and son in law were able to spend every day with her for the next 30 plus years. Her son Richard (Dickie) lived in a little cabin on her property for 10 years until he passed as well.

Helen was very active into her older years and always knew she would live to 100. But as the goal date approached she admitted it was perhaps overrated. She prided herself for “having her own teeth” and we always joked with her about that.

She was still mowing a section of her yard until age 95 and until her final year of life, (she made it well past 100!) she would still take little walks up and down her driveway and supervise her grandkids weeding, planting, harvesting, or even pressing apples in her cider press. She never stopped loving her garden or flowers and had an ingenious green thumb she passed down to her daughter Connie and grandson Rob.

The legacy Helen left was one of being a hard worker, incredibly kind and constantly positive. She lived life through rose colored glasses.

Her last 11 months of life were spent in the carehome of Fortuna rehab after a fall which broke her shoulder and hip and increased her developing dementia. She was always such a good grandma and had a close bond with her two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren and her bonus daughter Sharla Forwood, who daily cared for her in the last year at the nursing home.

She survived her two husbands, Richard Dye (d. 1996) and Don Perkins (d. 2012), and son Richard (d. 2014). All but one of her siblings have already passed away.

She is survived by her daughter, Connie Bertholf (Robert), her grandchildren, Amy Norton (Michael), Rob Bertholf (Magda) and Sharla Forwood. Great grandkids, Abigail (18) and Benjamin (12) will treasure the years they were able to grow up with her as a regular part of their lives. She still has a lot of family in Colorado who love Helen and keep in touch, and several were able to travel to California to visit with her in this last year. We appreciate the love shown, even from far away.

The family would like to thank Fortuna Rehabilitation for their care and kindness to Helen.

A private memorial was held at her home on Christmas Day.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Helen Perkins’ loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.