STORY BY LESLEY ANDRUS

PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

 She might not have survived her third year had it not been for the warmth of hogs.

As it is, Helen Chenoweth has lived a long rich life.

Born 80 years ago in Industry, Ill., Helen grew up in small Illinois and Iowa towns where homes often had no electricity, water was taken from a cistern and she and her family dug their own holes for the outhouse.

It was a hard life, but Helen didn’t see it that way as she and her siblings also had a tremendous amount of freedom.  Days not in school were spent swimming in old mining holes that had filled with water, walking on railroad tracks and across fields where they had to avoid bulls.

They had pigs, horses, goats and chickens and a lot of bees that were always stinging them.

 That freedom was so ingrained from an early age that Helen did not think twice about following her mother one evening when she was only 3 ½ years old.  Though her mother had forbidden her from accompanying her to a neighbor’s, Helen determinedly set out to follow.

She only remembers going along a fence and through an opening.  When her family realized she was missing, a 200-person search party was formed and for 48 hours they looked for her to no avail. 

During that time the worst rain storm of the season commenced, prompting fears that little Helen had not survived. There was no Lassie come to the rescue. But, suddenly, the sheriff had an idea.

“I know where she is,” he said. And, sure enough, he was right.  Without explaining his hunch, the sheriff drove to a hog lot where he saw a lump in the middle of the lot.  The lump turned out to be Helen who was probably saved by the warmth of the hogs.

Helen was taken to a hospital where she was checked out. And to this day she remembers nothing but the ice cream she got at the hospital. She had never had ice cream before then. It was chocolate, spurring a lifelong love affair with chocolate malt.

When Helen was around 10, she moved with her mother, father and older brother to the small town of Breeds.  There, her father took up with the neighbor who had six children. He divorced Helen’s mother and proceeded to expand the family by two more so there were 10 in the family.  The siblings all got along and to this day remain friends.

 After high school, Helen worked for a drive-in theatre and then at a dime store where she remembers earning 24 cents an hour.  One year after she graduated, she “got stupid” as she puts it, and got married.  After giving birth to a daughter and two sons, the family moved to southern California where, Helen says, her husband Warren “sprouted a new pair of wings” and lived his life “free as a bird.”

After 25 years living with this free spirit, Helen divorced him and moved to Palm Springs where she worked at the convention center.

 She loved both Palm Springs and her job and while there she also fell in love with Louis. Sadly, just short of three years into their relationship, Louis was diagnosed with cancer but they were able to have five more wonderful years until his death.

 How did Helen get to Hailey?

Her daughter Deb and son Brett moved to the Wood River Valley for the skiing and convinced her to join them. And, while she loved Palm Springs, she loved her six grandchildren and seven great grandchildren even more.

 Helen is always active. She loves to walk Wood River Valley trails, explore and read. And, before the pandemic, she was a standard fixture at The Senior Connection.

“The Senior Center is the best thing going,” she said. “It is fun and it keeps you active and on your toes. The people are just great, the meals are great and always there is something to do from games at the center, outings to Twin Falls and Jackpot and the monthly dinner club.”

 Helen’s positive enthusiasm for life is summed up by her philosophy: “If it’s there, I’m going to get out and do it or see it.”