Helen Appelberg
Rev. Dr. Helen Appelberg
Age 81
Helen was born into the Waller family in Blooming Grove, TX, a tiny town 10 miles from Corsicana, on Sept. 5, 1930. She was the youngest of three girls. Her father, Charlie Will, was deeply devoted to her mother, Johnnie Irene, and his daughters. He had great pride in his life’s work as a postal employee of 30 years. Her mother loved everything about being a wife, a mother and homemaker; she baked, sewed and made most of Helen's dresses and she sang throughout the day. Growing up, the sisters named themselves the “three bears”; Helen was always called the "baby bear". Her sisters, Doris Jean and Charlene Wilma, were her heroes. After a year in Blooming Grove and five years in Ft. Worth the family moved to Tyler and built the home Helen grew up in. Having ten acres, they planted an orchard, had chickens, a cow, a horse, a hog and a small truck garden.
The three girls followed each other through the same schools and graduated from John Tyler High School. Growing up was all about family, school, church and community. They rarely missed an activity at the First Baptist Church. Helen loved sitting down front with her Grandmother, Lilla Waller. She lived to be 97 years old and was one of Helen's best friends. Helen loved being a Camp Fire Girl and its emphasis on Indian lore, camping and nature activities. Her first job following college was Executive Director of the Tyler Camp Fire Girls.
World War II was declared during Helen's first year in Roberts Junior High School. "I can still hear President Roosevelt’s words, I remember the tears as we stared at the fabric face of the radio." When Camp Fannin Army Post and hospital opened Tyler was flooded with young men and women in uniform. It had a great and lasting impact on Helen's family and the entire community. Her Jr. High sextet was invited to sing Christmas carols to wounded German prisoners of war. It was the first time she had ever seen grown men cry.
After high school Helen enrolled in Tyler Junior College. A drill team called the Apache Belles organized that year and she was a founding member. Today the “Belles” are one of the nation’s best known dance group-drill teams, very much like the Kilgore Rangerettes. After graduation she went to North Texas State College in Denton and graduated with a BA in sociology and government. In 1954 Helen returned to school to attend the University of Virginia and graduated in 1955 with a Master of Education in Counseling and Education. In 1978 she earned a Master of Education in Childhood Education and a Montessori Certificate from Oklahoma City University.
After several years of career building and travel Helen fell in love and married Carl Appelberg, an engineer and native Dane who came to Tyler with General Electric. Before their wedding he accepted a transfer to New York City. They settled in Hartsdale and were soon commuting together; Carl to General Electric International and Helen to the National office of the Camp Fire Girls. Before long they were transferred to Philadelphia, where they settled in a new home in Malvern, PA. After two years GE contracted with NASA to help build the new space program in Clear Lake, so in 1963 they moved to Houston to start a new life. Carl loved his work in the space program. Helen opened a shop to sell Scandinavian furniture and gifts called "Shop in Denmark." Success came quickly and unexpectedly. They became active members of the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer. Then Helen gave birth to Katrina on December 23, 1966, which she considered to be the greatest moment and gift of their marriage. Helen's next years were complicated. She had a miscarriage and was seriously ill for two years. Her marriage ended in 1975. She says "There was too much rapid success and sudden loss. It was heartbreaking."
When Katrina started college, Helen turned her attention to a deep sense of “call” to the ordination in the Episcopal Church. After struggling with being identified as "older" at 55, she was finally approved. In September of 1988 she enrolled in the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin and graduated with a Master of Religion. In June, 1989 she was ordained a Deacon at Christ Church Cathedral in Houston and in January, 1990 she was ordained an Episcopal priest. In 1994 she graduated from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary with a Doctor of Ministry. In 1989, Helen was assigned to St. Luke's Hospital in Houston as a full-time chaplain in the Pastoral Care department. The next year she became assistant director of the department and became a full time Sunday Assistant at St. Martin's Episcopal Church where she served until her retirement in 2002. While at St. Luke’s in 1994 she founded a lay chaplain training movement called The Community of Hope, based on Benedictine Spirituality and the Rule of Benedict. It grew so rapidly it was made a separate department and she was made Director. Today it is the Community of Hope International, an independent entity staffed by a Board of Directors who give volunteer time overseeing training centers across the United States, Africa and Canada. Helen is currently president of the Board.
When she retired from St. Luke's in 2002, Helen was offered a position in the Sealy Center on Aging at UTMB by its Director. She began a new career as the Director of the Center for Spirituality of Aging in the Sealy Center and loves her work. She gives talks on successful aging, leads retreats and seminars, consults with nursing homes and trains pastoral care givers. Now in its 9th year is an annual three-day conference at Camp Allen called “Abundant Living: Celebrate the Gift of Years”. Sundays she serves as the Associate to the Rector at Grace Episcopal Church in Galveston. Contemplative prayer is a daily discipline and she is an oblate in the World Community for Christian Meditation.
Helen remains close to her daughter, Katrina, her husband, Scott, their son, Maxwell, and Katrina's teenagers, Kirsten and Chase, who live in Boulder, CO. She recently took Kirsten and Chase to Denmark to meet their cousins for the first time. She says "It was an unforgettable experience for all of us". Her sister Charlene, now 86, and her husband Rich live near Tyler. Her prayer is to live a long, healthy life to give back all that she has been given. Helen is well-known and loved by a broad community of friends and colleagues throughout Houston and Galveston.
Here is an update provided by daughter, Katrina, in January 2021: Mom retired from UTMB in 2016, although she has continued to fully participate in the annual Abundant Living Conference and The Community of Hope, International, which she founded. She turned 90 last September. She lives in a retirement community in Galveston, where she is thriving.
Scott and I continue to live in Boulder, Colorado. Max is now a 10th grader in high school, and Chase and Kirsten are both obtaining their teaching credentials. I work at Boulder High School, where I serve at-risk (at-promise) and minority youth in our community, many of whom have experienced (or are experiencing) homelessness.
