Helen Dolores Stephens Clowney was born September 19,1937 to the late Hugh and Margaret Stephens in Lagrange Georgia.
Helen started singing in the school choir early on, and she was really good! She continued this through high school. Her talent was amazing, and she was asked throughout the years to sing at churches for Christmas, Easter, and wedding solos.
After high school, Helen moved to Atlanta and worked for Bell telephone. She told many stories of when she lived there and worked at the switchboard. She loved the work she was doing, and one night she even got to speak to Elvis Presley on the phone.
Early January 1966, Helen met John Spratt Clowney while he was working on the interstate construction. They married in September of 1966 and moved to Blair, South Carolina, Spratt’s childhood home.
If there was one thing Helen loved as much as her family, it was animals. She had a huge soft spot for any animal that was hurt or abandoned. Her constant companion was her very large, black cat named Buddy. She also loved birds. She and Buddy sat and watched her birds daily. Red birds were her favorite in the winter and hummingbirds in the summer.
When Spratt donated land to build a volunteer fire department, Helen became the first secretary for the Feasterville fire department. She did this for many years until she felt she could not do it properly. When the first group of firefighters were training to staff station nine, Helen would make sandwiches for all of them the night before, so that they had a packed lunch to take with them.
Over the years while her children were growing up, Helen cooked countless meals for friends of the children. You never left the Clowney house with an empty stomach. If there was a death in the community, you could count on having one of her pound cakes
Helen loved to travel. When she was young, she traveled across the United States with her family. After the death of Spratt, she and her cousin, Jane Bonnette, would take trips to go see relatives in San Antonio, Pennsylvania, and Florida. She looked so forward to these trips.
In addition to her parents, Helen was preceded in death by her husband. She is survived by her children, Denise Bolick (Marion), Jo Ann Clowney Hook (James), Johnny Clowney (Nikki), Donna Clowney (Tim Chisolm), and Bill Clowney (Sarah Beth), eight grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
Visitation was held Tuesday evening, January 17, 2023 at Pope Funeral Home in Winnsboro South Carolina from 6 to 8 PM. Funeral services were held at Salem Presbyterian Church, 276 State Highway 215N, Blair South Carolina at 11:00 AM on Wednesday, January 18, 2023.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Shepherd Center for traumatic brain injuries in Atlanta, Georgia. On their website, they have a link to donations. Please specify that your donation is in memory of Helen Clowney, grandmother of Matthew Huey, a former patient with a traumatic brain injury.
Pope Funeral Home is assisting the Clowney family.
