Helene K Ferree Obituary (1939

Helene K. Ferree BLUFFTON, S.C. -- Helene Kellow (Weinland) Ferree, 71, of Sun City Hilton Head, passed away November 29, 2010 at her residence. A graveside service will be held Monday, December 6, 2010 at 10 AM at Beaufort National Cemetery in Beaufort by the Rev. Ward Scovel. . A memorial service will be held at First United Methodist Church in her hometown of West Pittston, Pa., at a later date. Mrs. Ferree was born Sept. 25, 1939, in Chinchilla, Pa., to Harry Albert Kellow and Marion Franken Kellow. She graduated from West Pittston High School and from Wyoming Seminary School of Business in Forty Fort, Pa. In West Pittston, she held various offices in community services and the First United Methodist Church, where she was a longtime member of the choir. As a young mother she served as a leader in the Brownies and Girl Scouts and as assistant manager of the Girls Softball Association. After moving to Atlanta, Ga., she worked for 15 years as an inventory coordinator for Xerox before retiring in 2003. She married James E. Ferree on May 30, 1989. A great lover of the outdoors and a strong believer in exercise, she frequently ran in 5-kilometer and 10-kilometer races and in the mid-1990s won a 5-K race in Savannah, Ga., in the 55-59 age group. She also was an avid walker. After moving to Hilton Head Island and then Sun City, she was active in the Avant Gardeners Club, which she served as vice president of membership. She loved to travel. She also was an extremely gracious and hard-working hostess when family members and friends visited her and her husband in Atlanta and on the S.C. coast. In early 2009, her family feared she was losing her memory, but an alternate diagnosis and surgery restored her mental alertness and gave her a brand new lease on life for 17 months until her final illness surfaced. Survivors include her husband of Sun City Hilton Head; three daughters, Cindy Weinland of West Pittston, Pa., Beth Weinland Grimes and her husband, David, of North Attleboro, Mass., and Lorena Marie Ferree of Broomfield, Colo.; two granddaughters, Megan Grimes and Julie Grimes, both of North Attleboro, Mass.; a sister, Virginia Marie Carpenter of Atlanta; a brother, Harry Albert Kellow of Falls, Pa.; a sister-in-law, Susan Ferree Jones of Randleman, N.C.; her mother-in-law, Margaret Bunting Ferree of Asheboro, N.C.; and nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Louisiana, North Carolina and Florida. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be sent to Hospice of the Lowcountry, P.O. Box 3827, Bluffton, SC 29910; The Butterfly Garden, Avant Gardeners of Sun City, 114 Sun City Lane, Bluffton, SC 29909; or the First United Methodist Church Choir, 408 Wyoming Ave., West Pittston, Pa., 18643.