Helen P. Reynolds

Funeral services for Helen P. Reynolds, 80, of Gillette will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Gillette Memorial Chapel with the Rev. Bill Morel of Family Life Church officiating.

Burial will follow in Mount Pisgah Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Gillette Memorial Chapel.

Mrs. Reynolds died Friday, Feb. 1, 2013, at Campbell County Memorial Hospital of natural causes.

She was born Dec. 26, 1932, to Fredrick Leslie and Helen Smith (Martin) Martin in a rail house on the United States-Canadian border, where her grandparents lived in Chopeka, Wash. Weighing less than 2 pounds at birth, they placed her on hot water bottles to maintain her body temperature, used hankies as diapers and a cigar box as a bed. As a young child, she lived in the Chelan, Wash., area until the death of her father. After her mother remarried, the family moved to northern California. As a teenager, she met her future husband of 63 years, Ernest Francis Reynolds Jr. in Arcata, Calif.

In Sept. 19, 1949, they married in Carson City, Nev., with her mother as a witness. They were blessed with four children. The couple joked every time they moved away and then back to the Arcata, Calif., area they had an addition to their family.

In March 1970, they moved to Mackey, Idaho, and later on to Arco and Inkom, Idaho, and Superior, Wis., before arriving in Gillette, in December 1979.

While in California and Idaho, she worked as a nurse’s aide and prided herself in the care she was able to give to others. She began working for Kmart while living in Inkom and when they moved to Gillette, she transferred with the corporation and became a service desk supervisor at the old Kmart and worked a brief time at the new Kmart before injuring her back. She spent years enduring numerous back surgeries and pain.

She was a very talented seamstress and enjoyed crocheting. Mrs. Reynolds made numerous afghans, including one for each of her grandchildren. She loved to spend time with friends and family. This often meant trips to Arkansas, Montana and California. She truly enjoyed spending time with her children and grandchildren and looked forward to their visits.

She is survived by her husband, Ernest Reynolds Jr. of Gillette; sons: Johnny Reynolds and George Reynolds; daughter, Rebecca Holdeman, all of Gillette; sister, Sally Jo McCollum of Huson, Mont.; brother, Larry Ray Nichols of Red Bluff, Calif.; 14 grandchildren; 28 great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

She was preceded in death by her parents; stepfather, Harold Nichols; son, Thomas Keith Reynolds Sr.; brother, Dean Nichols; sisters: Jean Lawrence and Eva Mae Henderson, and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

Memorials and condolences may be sent in Mrs. Reynolds name in care of Gillette Memorial Chapel, 210 W. Fifth St., Gillette, WY 82716 or via the Internet www.gillettememorialchapel.com or attached to the obituary at www.gillettenewsrecord.com.