Helen
has passed away but we keep her profile on the website because she was
such a special person.
This is an interview of one of Mt. Olive’s oldest members. She was born
in the Forest Grove area and, with the exception of nine years (from
three years old until twelve), when she and her family lived in Canada,
she has lived her whole life in Forest Grove and attended Mt. Olive most
of those years. Helen represents the steadfast members who attend
Church every Sunday, pay their tithes regularly, work hard for the
Church and who live the quiet, routine seemingly uneventful lives that
somehow, have a richness and quality we rarely see today.
Helen is ninety years old, a very lovely, tiny,
mentally sharp lady. She now lives at the Bee Hive retirement home in
Forest Grove, a very nice home. However, Helen says she was never meant
to live in such a small room.
When Helen was three, the family moved to Canada.
Her Father had a serious asthma condition and they had to change
climate. She, her parents and sister lived on an isolated farm.
Because it was five miles to school and no transportation was available,
Helen didn’t start to school until she was eight and her sister was even
older. Finally they got a skitterish horse they could ride double to
school. They could attend school during the warmer months. The horse
occasionally bucked Helen off the back end and sister off the front.
The school was a large barn converted and the
teacher lived in a little apartment there. One special day the teacher
invited them to her home and they made taffy. But it wouldn’t harden,
so they had spoon candy. It was a fun occasion.
In the winter the temperature would drop to 50
degrees below, so of course no school. Obviously, something better had
to be done for the children’s education. These were also very hard
economic times.
Father stayed in Canada and farmed. Mother brought
the girls to Forest Grove, when Helen was twelve. Father came home
winters.
Forest Grove has changed greatly since Helen was a
girl. In her youth, children roller skated down the middle of Main
Street, sailed over bumps at the cross streets, and on down the road.
Helen went to Central, Lincoln and the
old Forest Grove Union High School. The school owned the land where the Catholic Church
is now. They sold that to the church and built a new school on the
west end of town. The catholic church burned when it was being built and
had to be rebuilt.
Helen married Bill Buel and they and 63½ years
together before he died. Bill logged, did some contract carpentering,
and in later years maintained the Portland police cars.
They lived on C Street and had two children, Bonnie
and Bill.
Her son Bill died last February. He had graduated
from High School and joined the Coast Guards. He had made the service his
career.
Bonnie was married to Merton Sahnow and they have a
farm north of Hillsboro. Merton recently died. Bonnie and her son
operate the farm.
Originally, Helen’s family were Methodist, but when
their daughter became best friends with Pastor Wendling’s daughter and
water to go to Mt. Olive, the whole Buel family joined.
A few years ago Helen wrote, hand written with
pictures, about her life for her children. Quite an accomplishment.
(prepared by Annie Jarrell) |
