Helen Jeanette King Mote

Helen Jeanette (King) Mote, age 92, passed away peacefully on October 21, 2020, in her Tulsa home following an extended illness. She was born at St. Anthony Hospital, Oklahoma City on April 4, 1928, to Lenore Miesse and C. Willard King, the youngest of three siblings.

Helen is survived by her husband, Gary R. Mote, whom she married in 1951; her son, Clayton King Mote, and daughter, Marcia Jan Roe; as well as numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, M. Kenton King, MD, of St. Louis, Missouri, and her sister, Marilyn King Stevenson, of Laguna Niguel, California.

She began her working career after college with the Oklahoma Natural Gas and Electric Company. During her early years of marriage, she worked in several occupations before beginning a family. She retired as an Administrative Assistant to her husband in his consulting practice. She and Gary adopted their two children, ages five and four, a brother and sister, in 1958. With caring love, she devoted her life to well-rounded educational and extracurricular opportunities for them, and to the general welfare of the whole family, a role in which she excelled. Helen and her family moved to Northern Virginia in 1961, due to her husband’s career. The family moved back to Oklahoma in 1987, making their home in Tulsa.

Helen was a devout Christian, and at a young age, she joined the First Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City. She served the church wherever she lived throughout her life, often in leadership positions - including as an Elder.

Additional passions included a love of learning and service to others. She graduated from Classen High School, Oklahoma City in 1946; then attended Christian College in Columbia, Missouri, an all-girls school, for her freshman year, and graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1950. When Gary was enrolled in a Princeton University Fellowship Program, Helen was able to enroll in numerous classes. Her focus was on history, literature and religion courses, in which she completed with enthusiasm. However, since Princeton University was not yet coeducational in the 1960s, she was unable to receive credit for the classes. She went on to obtain a master's degree from the University of Virginia in 1971. Helen attended many other educational activities throughout her life. She devoted thousands of hours to hospital volunteer work- at St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City and the Inova Fairfax Hospital Auxiliary in Falls Church, Virginia; she served as a Board Member of the State of Virginia's Association of Hospital Volunteers. She was a continually active member of various Tulsa organizations- the Salvation Army Women's Auxiliary, as well as the P.E.O. Sisterhood, an organization founded in 1869 for the benefit of women. P.E.O. owns and governs Cottey College in Nevada, Missouri, for which she was supportive and a representative for her Tulsa chapter. She served as a board member of her Chi Omega sorority at OSU. In these activities as well as others, Helen was recognized for her dedicated work and leadership abilities. For pure fun, she especially enjoyed swimming, ice skating, snow skiing, traveling, reading and was a competitive bridge player.

A loving Family Celebration of Life will be held on a later date. Helen is in God's eternal hands. Her life was a gift to many. She will be dearly missed.

Those wishing to honor her are invited to donate to the Helen King Mote Endowed Student Scholarship Fund at Cottey College; Kirk of the Hills Presbyterian Church in Tulsa; the Tulsa Chapter of the Salvation Army Women's Auxiliary or another charity of choice.

Arrangements were entrusted to Schaudt's Tulsa Funeral Service & Cremation Care. Family and friends may send memories and condolences to the family online at www.schaudtfuneralservice.com