Helen Marie Guillaudeu Claassen Brown went to be with her Lord on August 19th, 2018 in Houston, Texas. Her passing was peaceful, with loved ones and family all around. She had been living in Lake Jackson at the time. Helen Marie was born on February 28, 1923 in Holmdell, New Jersey. She was born to Charles Sidney Guillaudeu and Ada Catherine (Reya) Guillaudeu . She had one older sister, Grace. Helen's mother Ada died in childbirth when Helen and her sister was very young. Their paternal grandmother, Sadie Eliza (Hurley) Guillaudeu helped to take care of her and Grace until their father remarried Florence Anderson Van Note. At an early age, Helen developed Scoliosis and spent 11 years of her childhood in body casts. This did not dampen her spirits! Helen Brown is known for her sense of humor, her love of singing and her domestic skills, which she developed at an early age. She went to Oceanport Public Primary School, Longbranch Highschool, Monmouth Junior College and Paine Hall Medical School in New York City where she studied to become an X-ray Technician. During the war she worked in a factory assembling parts for communication devices. It was very delicate work, winding wires as fine as a human hair. Helen became pen-pals with Alexander James Claassen through a mutual friend from the church of Christ in New Jersey who had known Alexander at Abilene Christian College. Alexander and his two sisters, Rona and Lois were students from Rhodesia, Africa. After finishing school they returned to Africa, but Alexander was still lonely. This mutual friend thought that Helen and Alexander would make a great pair! After just two years of correspondence, she packed up and moved to Africa where they were married and served as missionaries at Nohwe Mission and created a loving home together. At one time they had 17 cats living with them! Sadly, Helen lost several babies, including little Jimmy, who was born and lived for one day. She was pregnant again and one Sunday Afternoon on a preaching trip into the bush, Alexander was hit and killed by a drunk driver. Helen wanted very much to stay in Africa with the people and the land that she had grown to love. Donna-Marie Claassen was born a few months later. Within a year of Alexander's death, Helen married Jesse Glen Brown from Oklahoma and they continued to work for the Lord. The new family of three moved to Swaziland to start a mission there and they stayed for seven years. They moved back to Rhodesia where they lived until returning to the States in 1979 when Donna-Marie started college. Helen and Jesse served in the preaching ministry in Safford, Arizona; Groom, Bryson and Ganado, Texas. Donna-Marie and Robin Lee were married and Helen became a grandmother to Alan Jeffrey and Belinda Marie. Jesse passed away in 1989 while Donna-Marie and Robin were in Germany with Dow Chemical. Helen still wanted to work, so she moved to Tanzania where she worked as a missionary until Donna-Marie and Robin and the grandchildren moved back to Lake Jackson. Helen spent a total of 29 years on the African Mission Field. She moved to Lake Jackson and became a grandmother to Christine Marie and continued to influence people until the day she died. Belinda married Matt Nisbett and they have presented Helen with two grandsons, Jesse Reid and Jennings Taylor.
Helen loved to study and teach the Bible, read, sing, make people laugh, garden, crochet, bake, talk, encourage, correspond and to watch golf and old romantic movies and westerns! Helen was so very loved by her family, her brothers and sisters at church, her visiting nurses and caregivers, apartment friends and acquaintances around town and countless friends and family all over the world.

1st Corinthians 15:58 - Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Services to honor Helen's life will be a visitation Thursday, August 23rd 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., at Lakewood Funeral Chapel. Her funeral service will be Friday, August 24th 10:00 a.m., at the church of Christ, 402 Center Way in Lake Jackson. There will be a fellowship lunch following the service at the church. The graveside service will be held at 3:00 p.m. at Oaklawn Memorial Park, 4609 N. State Hwy 71, El Campo, TX 77437.

In lieu of flowers checks can be made out to Partners 4 Africa.
They can be handed to the family or mailed to:
Partners 4 Africa
OCR Church of Christ
P.O. Box 217
Owens Cross Road, AL 35764

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