“Life doesn’t come with a manual; it comes with a mother.” And for the Pope family, that mother was Helen Sue Huddleston Pope who died early Tuesday morning, October 31, 2023 in Lexington. Mrs. Helen was that mother and matriarch to her four children and their families.
Helen Pope was born June 21, 1933 in Lebanon, Tennessee, one of nine children to the late George R. and Viola Young Huddleston. She met her late husband, Leroy Pope while he was serving in the war and they were blessed with four children. Each child had their own special relationship, the oldest, Gary (Rita) Pope was the one who came by every morning before work to visit and have coffee. And every morning he left with a sack she had packed with a water and two candy bars for him to take to work. Now Kristie (Mike) Wadley-Woods was the crafty one of the two daughters. Mrs. Pope passed along her love of sewing to Kristie. Kristie even made her own clothes while in high school and later in life ran a custom embroidery shop. Her other daughter, Kay P. (Glynn) Hughes discovered her love of cooking from her mother who was always a multi blue ribbon winner each fall at the Henderson County Fair. The youngest child, Walter (Tammy) Pope, was envied by his other siblings and was given the title of “The Golden Child”. It was true that in his mother’s eyes, Walter could do no wrong and always got her special attention.
Mrs. Pope was a true mother in every sense of the word. She was a member of the First Baptist Church of Lexington and proudly taught the 4th grade Sunday School class for over forty years while touching the hearts of hundreds of children. While her children were in school, she was the homeroom mother all the teachers and children could depend on. And when her children were involved in sports, she was always present and supported them whether at the ball parks or the gymnasium. Mrs. Helen had a good eye for antiques and a love of collecting angels. And she loved to play canasta with her ladies’ group.
As mentioned, she was a mother of four, but also a proud grandmother to: Adam (Emily) Pope, Amy Amburgey, Kevin Wadley, Marcy (Mark) White, Blake (Melissa) Patterson, Cole (Marie) Patterson, Wes Pope, Drew (Angela) Pope, Shelby (Josh) Cathey, Hunter (Sarah Carruthers) Pope and four bonus grandchildren as they call them: Clint and Kevin Woods, Sydney (Brian) Hawks and Lucas McClure. She was also blessed with 22 great grandchildren. Mrs. Pope has two sisters that survive her: Claudine Robinson and Brenda Tarter. In her last years, Mrs. Pope was fortunate to have great caregivers: Melissa Prater and Glenda Newman for which the family is grateful. She was preceded in death by her late parents and husband Leroy Pope and a great grandson, Silas Pope.
