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Born in Oilmont, Montana to Lillian Audrey and John Byron Dingman on Nov. 8, 1932, Helen was a daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend. She left this world after a valiant fight against cancer on Dec. 9, 2024. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dean, and her siblings.
As a child, Helen’s family left Oilmont for the oil field camp of Grass Creek, Wyoming, where she lived through high school. Her parents were very civic minded and actively involved in Grass Creek, a great role model for her to draw from in her own life. As she moved to Powell to study at Northwest Community College and form her life with Dean House, she put those same roots down that would endure until her last earthly days. Helen and Dean married in 1952 and enjoyed a full and loving marriage for 69 years until Dean’s passing in 2021. They started their life together in a little cabin with a red door up the North Fork, then were off to Ralston to farm. Helen awoke at the crack of dawn (or before) to raise four children, run to town for parts, keep house, drive truck and tractor, weed sugar beets and fork beans, deliver delicious lunches to the fields, tend a huge vegetable plot, put up jars of delicious veggies, refinish furniture, sew prom dresses and school performance outfits, fix up old houses, and tend her beautiful flower beds. She learned how to bake gluten-free in the 1970s, before it was a trend, when Dean was diagnosed with celiac. Her days on the farm were full and blessed, her sweet voice and laughter ringing through the fields and house, her piano playing rising up from the basement. She was truly the heart of her family and home.
Helen loved being involved in her community, just like her parents. She was a Cub Scout leader, Ralston Roadrunner 4-H Club leader, election poll worker, and hair stylist at the Powell nursing home. Baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at age 23, she remained faithful to her church membership all through her life. As president of the local WIFE (Women Involved in Farm Economics) chapter, she advocated for small family farms, speaking in Cheyenne and Washington, D.C., where she proudly met first lady Roslyn Carter. Helen also worked at the Ralston grain mill and conducted regional agriculture surveys, driving all over the Big Horn Basin collecting data from farmers and ranchers.
She treasured her longtime Powell Valley friends and acquaintances, living out her last days here, in the hometown she loved. She thrived on her weekly trips to the Powell Aquatic Center, a member from its founding up until her passing. She loved hiking and playing pinochle with her dear friends. She loved traveling to the desert southwest with Dean and looking for arrowheads on Polecat Bench. She loved Willie Nelson and Elvis Presley. She loved riding her 4-wheeler, always wanting to go faster and seek more difficult trails. She loved dogs — her dogs, your dogs, any dogs (cats, not so much). She loved her husband, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, fascinated by their personalities and lives.
Helen is survived by her children Mike (Melissa) House, of Park City, Montana, Barbara (Mark) Laughlin of Kingman, Arizona, Virginia (Matt) McIntyre of Estacada, Oregon, and Sue House of Sequim, Washington; her grandchildren Heather (Richard) Jacobson, Brien (Wendy) House, Sally Whitman, Zach (Kori) Hassler, Rebecca (David) Holt, August (Dre) Gunderson, and Katelin (Jeff) Gunderson; and great-grandchildren Kaitlin, Erik, Kinsey, Ellie, Lily and Molly.
The date of a memorial service is forthcoming.
