TAMWORTH - Helen Ewing Breasted of Tamworth died in her home on Saturday, Aug. 20, 2000. She was 90 years old. She had been suffering from progressive dementia.
Born on Dec. 5, 1903, in Lake Forest, Ill., she was the daughter of Charles Hull Ewing, a businessman and real estate developer with interests in Chicago and Sarasota, Fla., and Mary Everts, once dean of women at the State University of Iowa. Her father worked in partnership with his aunt Helen Culver, one of Chicago's first prominent businesswomen, who also donated Hull House to Jane Addams, the founder of social work in America.
The Ewings' Lake Forest home burned down 10 days after Helen was born, and in the ensuing confusion, the baby was briefly mislaid, only to be found sleeping comfortably outside in a laundry basket atop the winter snow.
Mr. Ewing took his young family to Florida every winter, where his wife taught Helen and her older sister Katherine Hocking (now of Madison) their spelling and arithmetic in the wet sand beside the Gulf of Mexico.
Helen was an accomplished tennis player, winning the Sarasota Women's Tennis Championship when she was 18. All her life, until her last illness, she remained a vigorous athlete. She climbed Moat Mountain at the age of 75.
As a child, she also attended her aunt Katherine Jewell Everts' Shakespeare Camp in West Dummerston, Vt. She knew many passages of Shakespeare by heart and was an intensely literary person.
She graduated from the Master's School in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. in 1928 and attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. for one year. In 1929, she interrupted her college education to travel around the world with her family.
The Ewings started their grand tour around the world in the early autumn, shortly before the stock market crashed. When the crash happened, they decided not to interrupt their plans. The family rode elephants in India, watched Siamese dancers at Ankor Wat, visited the old walled city of Beijing (then called Peking), sailed to Cairo to view the great pyramids and traveled on to the great capitals of Europe.
Back in Chicago, Helen worked along with her sister, Kay, in Hull House, helping immigrant families adjust to American life. Her letters home tell of happy days spent directing young immigrant children in plays.
In 1935, Helen married James Henry Breasted Jr., the son and namesake of the Egyptologist who founded the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. They had six children. Robert, their second child, died when he was a little over a year old.
The Breasteds lived in Colorado Springs, Colo., Los Angeles, Calif., and Kent, Conn. Mr. Breasted was a college professor, later a director of the Los Angeles County Museum and finally chairman of the art and art history department at Kent School. In 1953, the Breasteds bought Mt. Mexico Farm in Tamworth as a summer home. In 1971, they retired there. Mr. Breasted died in 1983.
Helen Breasted was an old-fashioned woman. She adored all children and played a supportive role in the home, but she was also interested in the politics and issues of her times. She joined her children in anti-war demonstrations of the 1960s and early 1970s.
She is survived by her sister, Katherine Hocking; her five children, James of Carbondale, Colo., Barbara Whitesides of Newton, Mass., Mary Breasted Smyth of Sewickley, Pa., John of Great Barrington, Mass., and Helen Breasted Horton of Cape Elizabeth, Maine; and five grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Aug. 26, at 2 p.m. at the Wonalancet Union Chapel on Route 113A in Tamworth. Friends and neighbors are welcome. The family would like those wishing to make donations in her memorty to consider donating to Barnstormers Theater in Tamworth or VNA of Tamworth.
Born on Dec. 5, 1903, in Lake Forest, Ill., she was the daughter of Charles Hull Ewing, a businessman and real estate developer with interests in Chicago and Sarasota, Fla., and Mary Everts, once dean of women at the State University of Iowa. Her father worked in partnership with his aunt Helen Culver, one of Chicago's first prominent businesswomen, who also donated Hull House to Jane Addams, the founder of social work in America.
The Ewings' Lake Forest home burned down 10 days after Helen was born, and in the ensuing confusion, the baby was briefly mislaid, only to be found sleeping comfortably outside in a laundry basket atop the winter snow.
Mr. Ewing took his young family to Florida every winter, where his wife taught Helen and her older sister Katherine Hocking (now of Madison) their spelling and arithmetic in the wet sand beside the Gulf of Mexico.
Helen was an accomplished tennis player, winning the Sarasota Women's Tennis Championship when she was 18. All her life, until her last illness, she remained a vigorous athlete. She climbed Moat Mountain at the age of 75.
As a child, she also attended her aunt Katherine Jewell Everts' Shakespeare Camp in West Dummerston, Vt. She knew many passages of Shakespeare by heart and was an intensely literary person.
She graduated from the Master's School in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. in 1928 and attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. for one year. In 1929, she interrupted her college education to travel around the world with her family.
The Ewings started their grand tour around the world in the early autumn, shortly before the stock market crashed. When the crash happened, they decided not to interrupt their plans. The family rode elephants in India, watched Siamese dancers at Ankor Wat, visited the old walled city of Beijing (then called Peking), sailed to Cairo to view the great pyramids and traveled on to the great capitals of Europe.
Back in Chicago, Helen worked along with her sister, Kay, in Hull House, helping immigrant families adjust to American life. Her letters home tell of happy days spent directing young immigrant children in plays.
In 1935, Helen married James Henry Breasted Jr., the son and namesake of the Egyptologist who founded the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. They had six children. Robert, their second child, died when he was a little over a year old.
The Breasteds lived in Colorado Springs, Colo., Los Angeles, Calif., and Kent, Conn. Mr. Breasted was a college professor, later a director of the Los Angeles County Museum and finally chairman of the art and art history department at Kent School. In 1953, the Breasteds bought Mt. Mexico Farm in Tamworth as a summer home. In 1971, they retired there. Mr. Breasted died in 1983.
Helen Breasted was an old-fashioned woman. She adored all children and played a supportive role in the home, but she was also interested in the politics and issues of her times. She joined her children in anti-war demonstrations of the 1960s and early 1970s.
She is survived by her sister, Katherine Hocking; her five children, James of Carbondale, Colo., Barbara Whitesides of Newton, Mass., Mary Breasted Smyth of Sewickley, Pa., John of Great Barrington, Mass., and Helen Breasted Horton of Cape Elizabeth, Maine; and five grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Aug. 26, at 2 p.m. at the Wonalancet Union Chapel on Route 113A in Tamworth. Friends and neighbors are welcome. The family would like those wishing to make donations in her memorty to consider donating to Barnstormers Theater in Tamworth or VNA of Tamworth.
TAMWORTH - Helen Ewing Breasted of Tamworth died in her home on Saturday, Aug. 20, 2000. She was 90 years old. She had been suffering from progressive dementia.
Born on Dec. 5, 1903, in Lake Forest, Ill., she was the daughter of Charles Hull Ewing, a businessman and real estate developer with interests in Chicago and Sarasota, Fla., and Mary Everts, once dean of women at the State University of Iowa. Her father worked in partnership with his aunt Helen Culver, one of Chicago's first prominent businesswomen, who also donated Hull House to Jane Addams, the founder of social work in America.
The Ewings' Lake Forest home burned down 10 days after Helen was born, and in the ensuing confusion, the baby was briefly mislaid, only to be found sleeping comfortably outside in a laundry basket atop the winter snow.
Mr. Ewing took his young family to Florida every winter, where his wife taught Helen and her older sister Katherine Hocking (now of Madison) their spelling and arithmetic in the wet sand beside the Gulf of Mexico.
Helen was an accomplished tennis player, winning the Sarasota Women's Tennis Championship when she was 18. All her life, until her last illness, she remained a vigorous athlete. She climbed Moat Mountain at the age of 75.
As a child, she also attended her aunt Katherine Jewell Everts' Shakespeare Camp in West Dummerston, Vt. She knew many passages of Shakespeare by heart and was an intensely literary person.
She graduated from the Master's School in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. in 1928 and attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. for one year. In 1929, she interrupted her college education to travel around the world with her family.
The Ewings started their grand tour around the world in the early autumn, shortly before the stock market crashed. When the crash happened, they decided not to interrupt their plans. The family rode elephants in India, watched Siamese dancers at Ankor Wat, visited the old walled city of Beijing (then called Peking), sailed to Cairo to view the great pyramids and traveled on to the great capitals of Europe.
Back in Chicago, Helen worked along with her sister, Kay, in Hull House, helping immigrant families adjust to American life. Her letters home tell of happy days spent directing young immigrant children in plays.
In 1935, Helen married James Henry Breasted Jr., the son and namesake of the Egyptologist who founded the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. They had six children. Robert, their second child, died when he was a little over a year old.
The Breasteds lived in Colorado Springs, Colo., Los Angeles, Calif., and Kent, Conn. Mr. Breasted was a college professor, later a director of the Los Angeles County Museum and finally chairman of the art and art history department at Kent School. In 1953, the Breasteds bought Mt. Mexico Farm in Tamworth as a summer home. In 1971, they retired there. Mr. Breasted died in 1983.
Helen Breasted was an old-fashioned woman. She adored all children and played a supportive role in the home, but she was also interested in the politics and issues of her times. She joined her children in anti-war demonstrations of the 1960s and early 1970s.
She is survived by her sister, Katherine Hocking; her five children, James of Carbondale, Colo., Barbara Whitesides of Newton, Mass., Mary Breasted Smyth of Sewickley, Pa., John of Great Barrington, Mass., and Helen Breasted Horton of Cape Elizabeth, Maine; and five grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Aug. 26, at 2 p.m. at the Wonalancet Union Chapel on Route 113A in Tamworth. Friends and neighbors are welcome. The family would like those wishing to make donations in her memorty to consider donating to Barnstormers Theater in Tamworth or VNA of Tamworth.
Born on Dec. 5, 1903, in Lake Forest, Ill., she was the daughter of Charles Hull Ewing, a businessman and real estate developer with interests in Chicago and Sarasota, Fla., and Mary Everts, once dean of women at the State University of Iowa. Her father worked in partnership with his aunt Helen Culver, one of Chicago's first prominent businesswomen, who also donated Hull House to Jane Addams, the founder of social work in America.
The Ewings' Lake Forest home burned down 10 days after Helen was born, and in the ensuing confusion, the baby was briefly mislaid, only to be found sleeping comfortably outside in a laundry basket atop the winter snow.
Mr. Ewing took his young family to Florida every winter, where his wife taught Helen and her older sister Katherine Hocking (now of Madison) their spelling and arithmetic in the wet sand beside the Gulf of Mexico.
Helen was an accomplished tennis player, winning the Sarasota Women's Tennis Championship when she was 18. All her life, until her last illness, she remained a vigorous athlete. She climbed Moat Mountain at the age of 75.
As a child, she also attended her aunt Katherine Jewell Everts' Shakespeare Camp in West Dummerston, Vt. She knew many passages of Shakespeare by heart and was an intensely literary person.
She graduated from the Master's School in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. in 1928 and attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. for one year. In 1929, she interrupted her college education to travel around the world with her family.
The Ewings started their grand tour around the world in the early autumn, shortly before the stock market crashed. When the crash happened, they decided not to interrupt their plans. The family rode elephants in India, watched Siamese dancers at Ankor Wat, visited the old walled city of Beijing (then called Peking), sailed to Cairo to view the great pyramids and traveled on to the great capitals of Europe.
Back in Chicago, Helen worked along with her sister, Kay, in Hull House, helping immigrant families adjust to American life. Her letters home tell of happy days spent directing young immigrant children in plays.
In 1935, Helen married James Henry Breasted Jr., the son and namesake of the Egyptologist who founded the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. They had six children. Robert, their second child, died when he was a little over a year old.
The Breasteds lived in Colorado Springs, Colo., Los Angeles, Calif., and Kent, Conn. Mr. Breasted was a college professor, later a director of the Los Angeles County Museum and finally chairman of the art and art history department at Kent School. In 1953, the Breasteds bought Mt. Mexico Farm in Tamworth as a summer home. In 1971, they retired there. Mr. Breasted died in 1983.
Helen Breasted was an old-fashioned woman. She adored all children and played a supportive role in the home, but she was also interested in the politics and issues of her times. She joined her children in anti-war demonstrations of the 1960s and early 1970s.
She is survived by her sister, Katherine Hocking; her five children, James of Carbondale, Colo., Barbara Whitesides of Newton, Mass., Mary Breasted Smyth of Sewickley, Pa., John of Great Barrington, Mass., and Helen Breasted Horton of Cape Elizabeth, Maine; and five grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Aug. 26, at 2 p.m. at the Wonalancet Union Chapel on Route 113A in Tamworth. Friends and neighbors are welcome. The family would like those wishing to make donations in her memorty to consider donating to Barnstormers Theater in Tamworth or VNA of Tamworth.
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