Helen Pearl MacAllister (nee Johns) 92 years of age, and a member of Amherst, passed away Friday Feb. 14, 2014, at Amherst Manor Nursing Home. Helen was born April 15, 1921 in Caldwell, Ohio. She lived and raised her family in the Massillon are in Ohio. Reynoldsburg Ohio was her home in later life before moving to Amherst in 2001. As a young woman fresh out of Muskingum College, where she had received her teaching certificate, Helen began working as an elementary school teacher in Sarahsville, Ohio in a one room school house. Helen left her teaching position during World War II to join the United States Navy as a WAVE serving in Honolulu, Hawaii. After returning from the Navy, Helen came home and continued her schooling at Kent State University receiving her BS in education. Helen went on to work as a registered nurse for Aultman Hospital in Canton, Ohio, where she had received her nursing degree. She also served as a nurse at Doctors and Timken Mercy Hospitals in the Canton-Massillon area. Locally she attended Trinty Evangelical Free Church of Amherst.

She was preceded in death by her husband of forty three years, William M. MacAllister in 1994, her brother Virgil, and "Frank" Harold Johns; her sister Gladys Cooper and her parents Okie and Ella Johns (nee Phelps).

Friends may call Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, from 9:30 until 10:30 a.m. at the Hempel Funeral Home, 373 Cleveland Ave., Amherst. A memorial service for Helen will be held at 10:30 a.m. at the funeral home. The Rev. Arnold Fleagle, pastor of Trinity Evangelical Free Church, Amherst, will officiate. Burial will take place at the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery in Rittman, Ohio. The family suggests that memorial contributions be made to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 4002018, Des Moines, IA 50340-2018.

Published in The Repository on Feb, 14, 2014