Helen Dorothy Eagleson

Helen Mitchell Eagleson, 93, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Tuesday, October 5. She was born in Whittier on October 24, 1916, the sixth ofnine children born to John and Elsie Mitchell, who lived on a small citrus ranch on Michigan Ave, just east of Whittier. When Helen was sixteen, her mother died, and Helen took over an important role in raising her three younger brothers, especially the twins, Kenneth and Keith. She is preceded in death by her sisters Louise, Margaret, and Eleanor, and her brothers Walter, Ray, Kenneth, and Keith. She is survived by her younger brother, Howard Mitchell, her husband of 42 years, Wallace Eagleson of La Habra Heights, daughter Cindy Baxter Shabib and her husband Souheil, son Tom Baxter and his wife Sheila, stepdaughter Greer Eagleson Bascom and her husband Ken, and stepson Jim Eagleson and his wife Vicky. Also mourning her passing are Helen's five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Three grandchildren--Alexandra, Ryan, and Brooke--are the children of Cindy and her husband, Souheil. The other two, Joel Bascom and Faith Koontz, are the children of Greer and her husband, Ken. Three great-grandchildren, Corrie (7), Jack (5), and Wesley (3), were born to Joel and his wife Stephanie. Three more, Peter (7), Caleb (5), and Joel (1), were born to Faith and her husband, Chuck Koontz. Helen graduated from Whittier Union High School, and briefly attended both secretarial school and UC Berkley, but college plans were curtailed by her more important call to care for her widowed father. She eventually made a career as an executive secretary, traveling to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada for one opportunity, and to New York City where she worked for famed advertising agency J. Walter Thompson. When she returned to California, she worked for Southern California Edison, for the Lowell Joint School District, and then, in her final position before retirement, for the Chairman of the Music Department of Biola University in nearby La Mirada.Helen was proud of her connection to her cousin, Richard Nixon. Both of them grew up in Whittier, and both participated in Whittier community theater. It was in that setting that the future President met Helen's friend Pat Ryan, and Helen often shared the story that she was the first person that Pat told when Nixon proposed marriage. Years later, Helen attended the second Inauguration of President Nixon, and sat with the family at the Nixon funeral in Yorba Linda in 1994, just behind the historical gathering of Presidents, past and present, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton, and then-President George H.W. Bush.Since the mid-Sixties, she attended and played an active role at Granada Heights Friends Church in La Mirada. She sang in the choir for many years, was consistently a part of the leadership team of the Berean Adult Sunday School class, serving as co-president of the class. The class had a very active social calendar, due in large part to the creativity and organizational skills that Helen honed in the business world. She also played a major leadership role in the Women's Missionary Society.Helen was loved by the many nieces and nephews in the extended Mitchell clan, and played hostess to countless family gatherings at the Eagleson home in La Habra Heights. She was legendary for great food, creative parlor games, and an endless supply of hilarious jokes, flawlessly delivered.She will be greatly missed. A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, October 16, at Granada Heights Friends Church in La Mirada.