Block, Upload, Automoderated users, edit, move, protect, rollback
57,799
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Created page with "{{Infobox person | name=Helen Elizabeth Clark Derr<br> (Award-winning religion editor at ''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk'') | birth_date=December 17, 1918 | birth_p..."
{{Infobox person
| name=Helen Elizabeth Clark Derr<br>
(Award-winning religion editor at ''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk'')
| birth_date=December 17, 1918
| birth_place=Clarks, Merrick County, [[Nebraska]], USA
| death_date=June 21, 2011
| death_place = [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]]<br>Rapides Parish<br>[[Louisiana]]
| occupation = [[Journalist]]; Religion writer
| nationality = [[United States|American]]
| spouse = Harold J. Derr (married ca. 1941–1992, his death)<br>
Children:<br>
Russell Edward "Russ" Derr (deceased)<br>
Mary D. Sharkey<br>
Allan Derr<br>
Seven grandchildren<br>
Parents:<br>
Edward and Bessie Clark
}}
'''Helen Elizabeth Clark Derr''' (December 17, 1918 – June 21, 2011) was a nationally recognized journalist, religion writer, and editor during a career at the ''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk'' in [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]], [[Louisiana]], that spanned from 1955 to 1977. She later co-founded the adult day-care center, Friendship House in Alexandria.<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thetowntalk/obituary.aspx?n=helen-elizabeth-derr&pid=152177961&fhid=12059|title=Helen Elizabeth Derr|publisher=''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk''|date=June 24, 2011|accessdate=June 26, 2011}}</ref>
==Background==
Derr was born to Edward and Bessie Clark in Clarks, a village in Merrick County, [[Nebraska]], near Grand Island]] in east central portion of that state. She graduated from Rinard High School in Rinard in Calhoun County in western [[Iowa]]. Thereafter, she graduated from [[Iowa State University]] at Ames.<ref name=obit/>
Helen Clark married Harold J. Derr (September 7, 1917 – February 7, 1992),<ref name=ssdi>{{cite web|url=http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi|title=Social Security Death Index|publisher=ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com|accessdate=June 26, 2011; under pay wall}}</ref> later a [[forester]] with the United States Forest Service in [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]], Louisiana. The couple had three children.<ref name=obit/>
When their older son, Russell Edward "Russ" Derr (March 27, 1947 – October 13, 2010),<ref name=ssdi/> was born, the Derrs were living in [[Jackson]], [[Mississippi]]. A landscape designer, Russell Derr died of lymphoma at the age of sixty-three in Burbank, [[California]].<ref>Russell Edward "Rusty" Derr Obituary, ''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk,'' November 3, 2010</ref> Harold and Helen had a daughter, Mary D. Sharkey of Ball, which adjoins Pineville, who is married to Richard Powell Sharkey, the managing editor of ''The Town Talk''. Another son of Harold and Helen Derr, Allan Derr, and his wife, Betsy Derr, live in Villa Park, [[Illinois]]. Derr had seven grandchildren and a great-grandson. She had one sibling, a sister, Margaret Louise Dorr of [[Cedar Rapids, Iowa|Cedar Rapids]], Iowa.<ref name=obit/> The sisters had similar married surnames, one with an "e" and the other with an "o".<ref>Net Detective People Search</ref>
==Journalism career==
Derr also reported on educational developments for ''The Town Talk,' including school [[Segregation|desegregation]] issues in the late 1960s. She covered an address given in 1966 at the Rapides Parish Coliseum by [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]] In 1969, she covered former [[U.S. President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]'s visit to the First [[Baptist]] Church of [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], Louisiana, where Johnson's maternal great-grandfather, George Washington Baines, had been the founding pastor in 1848. In the spring of 1976, Derr interviewed former [[Governor]] [[Jimmy Carter]] of [[Georgia]] in his presidential campaign stop in Pineville. Carter kissed her on the cheek as the interview closed.<ref name=derr>{{cite web|url=https://archive.is/20140424032025/http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20110623/NEWS01/106230360/Helen-Derr-co-founder-Friendship-House-Alexandria-dies-92?odyssey|title=Helen Derr, co-founder of Friendship in Alexandria, dies at 92 |publisher=''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk'' |accessdate=June 26, 2011 }}</ref>
In 1967, Derr won the national award for "Excellence in Religion Reporting" from the Religious Public Relations Council. Only two newspapers in the country were recognized by the group for their religion coverage that year, ''The Town Talk'' and ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref name=derr/> In July 1977, Derr retired from ''The Town Talk'' at the age of fifty-eight. She then taught journalism at [[Southern Baptist]]-affiliated [[Louisiana College]] in Pineville and wrote for the [[Roman Catholic]] publication, ''The Church Today''.<ref name=derr/>
==Church and civic affairs==
Herself a [[Presbyterian]], she won in 1972 the national Presbyterian Church award for religion reporting. She also earned awards from the national and state Federations of Press Women. In 1977, the Alexandria Ministerial Alliance honored her as "the Cenla [Central Louisiana] Prophet with the [[Bible]] in one hand and a newspaper in the other." During that ceremony, Jim Cole, the editor of ''The Baptist Message'', praised Derr for helping to "break down the walls between denominations. Helen Derr has been a 'Johnny Unite-us' in Central Louisiana."<ref name=derr/>
The retired Catholic priest August Thompson said that Derr was a positive force to spur area churches to recognize racial injustices and to promote [[civil rights]]. "She was someone I really respected, and I felt she had all kind of empathies and sympathies. A true lady, she was so sensitive to the fact of what was going on and what needed to be done to change things," said Father Thompson.<ref name=derr/>
Derr served for more than a decade on the board of directors of the local Family Counseling Agency. She was president and chairman of the group called Church Women United in Central Louisiana. She was the first female [[deacon]] at First Presbyterian Church of Alexandria<ref name=derr/> and served on the task force that organized the establishment of her subsequent congregation, the Woodland Presbyterian Church in Pineville<ref name=derr/>
==Friendship House==
As the co-founder of Friendship House in Alexandria in 1982, she was the first president of the organization.<ref name=derr/>
In 2002, in an interview for the twentieth anniversary of Friendship House, Derr said that the center was "an idea before its time, really. Not many people understood it. We hoped it would be successful, but we really didn't know." Derr said that Maxine F. Watkins (1906–1997)<ref name=ssdi/> initiated the idea of an adult day-care center in Alexandria, before such enterprises became common nationwide. Julie Morris, the former executive director of Friendship House, said that Derr and Watkins "really were visionaries" who spurred life into the center, which is still functioning.<ref name=derr/>
On December 22, 1996, Alexandria Mayor [[Ned Randolph]] declared "Helen Derr Day" for her contributions to the community.<ref name=obit/>
Derr had resided most of her life with her husband in the Paradise community in northern Rapides Parish. Some years after his death she relocated to Regency House in Alexandria, where she died at the age of ninety-two. Services were held on June 25 at Woodland Presbyterian Church. She is interred beside her husband at Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville.<ref name=obit/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Derr, Helen}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Nebraska]]
[[Category:Iowa]]
[[Category:Mississippi]]
[[Category:Journalists]]
[[Category:Presbyterians]]
| name=Helen Elizabeth Clark Derr<br>
(Award-winning religion editor at ''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk'')
| birth_date=December 17, 1918
| birth_place=Clarks, Merrick County, [[Nebraska]], USA
| death_date=June 21, 2011
| death_place = [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]]<br>Rapides Parish<br>[[Louisiana]]
| occupation = [[Journalist]]; Religion writer
| nationality = [[United States|American]]
| spouse = Harold J. Derr (married ca. 1941–1992, his death)<br>
Children:<br>
Russell Edward "Russ" Derr (deceased)<br>
Mary D. Sharkey<br>
Allan Derr<br>
Seven grandchildren<br>
Parents:<br>
Edward and Bessie Clark
}}
'''Helen Elizabeth Clark Derr''' (December 17, 1918 – June 21, 2011) was a nationally recognized journalist, religion writer, and editor during a career at the ''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk'' in [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]], [[Louisiana]], that spanned from 1955 to 1977. She later co-founded the adult day-care center, Friendship House in Alexandria.<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thetowntalk/obituary.aspx?n=helen-elizabeth-derr&pid=152177961&fhid=12059|title=Helen Elizabeth Derr|publisher=''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk''|date=June 24, 2011|accessdate=June 26, 2011}}</ref>
==Background==
Derr was born to Edward and Bessie Clark in Clarks, a village in Merrick County, [[Nebraska]], near Grand Island]] in east central portion of that state. She graduated from Rinard High School in Rinard in Calhoun County in western [[Iowa]]. Thereafter, she graduated from [[Iowa State University]] at Ames.<ref name=obit/>
Helen Clark married Harold J. Derr (September 7, 1917 – February 7, 1992),<ref name=ssdi>{{cite web|url=http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi|title=Social Security Death Index|publisher=ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com|accessdate=June 26, 2011; under pay wall}}</ref> later a [[forester]] with the United States Forest Service in [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]], Louisiana. The couple had three children.<ref name=obit/>
When their older son, Russell Edward "Russ" Derr (March 27, 1947 – October 13, 2010),<ref name=ssdi/> was born, the Derrs were living in [[Jackson]], [[Mississippi]]. A landscape designer, Russell Derr died of lymphoma at the age of sixty-three in Burbank, [[California]].<ref>Russell Edward "Rusty" Derr Obituary, ''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk,'' November 3, 2010</ref> Harold and Helen had a daughter, Mary D. Sharkey of Ball, which adjoins Pineville, who is married to Richard Powell Sharkey, the managing editor of ''The Town Talk''. Another son of Harold and Helen Derr, Allan Derr, and his wife, Betsy Derr, live in Villa Park, [[Illinois]]. Derr had seven grandchildren and a great-grandson. She had one sibling, a sister, Margaret Louise Dorr of [[Cedar Rapids, Iowa|Cedar Rapids]], Iowa.<ref name=obit/> The sisters had similar married surnames, one with an "e" and the other with an "o".<ref>Net Detective People Search</ref>
==Journalism career==
Derr also reported on educational developments for ''The Town Talk,' including school [[Segregation|desegregation]] issues in the late 1960s. She covered an address given in 1966 at the Rapides Parish Coliseum by [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]] In 1969, she covered former [[U.S. President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]'s visit to the First [[Baptist]] Church of [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], Louisiana, where Johnson's maternal great-grandfather, George Washington Baines, had been the founding pastor in 1848. In the spring of 1976, Derr interviewed former [[Governor]] [[Jimmy Carter]] of [[Georgia]] in his presidential campaign stop in Pineville. Carter kissed her on the cheek as the interview closed.<ref name=derr>{{cite web|url=https://archive.is/20140424032025/http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20110623/NEWS01/106230360/Helen-Derr-co-founder-Friendship-House-Alexandria-dies-92?odyssey|title=Helen Derr, co-founder of Friendship in Alexandria, dies at 92 |publisher=''The Alexandria Daily Town Talk'' |accessdate=June 26, 2011 }}</ref>
In 1967, Derr won the national award for "Excellence in Religion Reporting" from the Religious Public Relations Council. Only two newspapers in the country were recognized by the group for their religion coverage that year, ''The Town Talk'' and ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref name=derr/> In July 1977, Derr retired from ''The Town Talk'' at the age of fifty-eight. She then taught journalism at [[Southern Baptist]]-affiliated [[Louisiana College]] in Pineville and wrote for the [[Roman Catholic]] publication, ''The Church Today''.<ref name=derr/>
==Church and civic affairs==
Herself a [[Presbyterian]], she won in 1972 the national Presbyterian Church award for religion reporting. She also earned awards from the national and state Federations of Press Women. In 1977, the Alexandria Ministerial Alliance honored her as "the Cenla [Central Louisiana] Prophet with the [[Bible]] in one hand and a newspaper in the other." During that ceremony, Jim Cole, the editor of ''The Baptist Message'', praised Derr for helping to "break down the walls between denominations. Helen Derr has been a 'Johnny Unite-us' in Central Louisiana."<ref name=derr/>
The retired Catholic priest August Thompson said that Derr was a positive force to spur area churches to recognize racial injustices and to promote [[civil rights]]. "She was someone I really respected, and I felt she had all kind of empathies and sympathies. A true lady, she was so sensitive to the fact of what was going on and what needed to be done to change things," said Father Thompson.<ref name=derr/>
Derr served for more than a decade on the board of directors of the local Family Counseling Agency. She was president and chairman of the group called Church Women United in Central Louisiana. She was the first female [[deacon]] at First Presbyterian Church of Alexandria<ref name=derr/> and served on the task force that organized the establishment of her subsequent congregation, the Woodland Presbyterian Church in Pineville<ref name=derr/>
==Friendship House==
As the co-founder of Friendship House in Alexandria in 1982, she was the first president of the organization.<ref name=derr/>
In 2002, in an interview for the twentieth anniversary of Friendship House, Derr said that the center was "an idea before its time, really. Not many people understood it. We hoped it would be successful, but we really didn't know." Derr said that Maxine F. Watkins (1906–1997)<ref name=ssdi/> initiated the idea of an adult day-care center in Alexandria, before such enterprises became common nationwide. Julie Morris, the former executive director of Friendship House, said that Derr and Watkins "really were visionaries" who spurred life into the center, which is still functioning.<ref name=derr/>
On December 22, 1996, Alexandria Mayor [[Ned Randolph]] declared "Helen Derr Day" for her contributions to the community.<ref name=obit/>
Derr had resided most of her life with her husband in the Paradise community in northern Rapides Parish. Some years after his death she relocated to Regency House in Alexandria, where she died at the age of ninety-two. Services were held on June 25 at Woodland Presbyterian Church. She is interred beside her husband at Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville.<ref name=obit/>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Derr, Helen}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Nebraska]]
[[Category:Iowa]]
[[Category:Mississippi]]
[[Category:Journalists]]
[[Category:Presbyterians]]