DAVIDSON, Helen

Today's News-Herald, Lake Havasu City, AZ - Published Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - Helen Davidson 1913 - 2011 Helen Davidson, 98, passed away peacefully Friday, Dec. 23, 2011 in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. Helen moved to Lake Havasu City in December 2008 from Joshua Tree, Calif., where she lived since 1955. For 20 of those years, she owned the Joshua Tree Monument Trading Post, a gift and souvenir shop located in the center of town where she raised her family. Soon after selling the business and retiring, she went to work for General Telephone Company in Yucca Valley and worked as an operator for the next 10 years. Helen loved the desert and appreciated all it had to offer. She loved camping, picnicking, and trips to Laughlin and Las Vegas. Helen traveled across the United States many times making several trips to Alaska. She loved singing and dancing and she even performed in the Gay 90s back in the late 1950s. She loved to stay busy, so during the next ten years she worked for the Department of Aging and Adult Services of San Bernardino County where she held several jobs in food service, and then went on to work for the Joshua Tree Library. At 88 years old, San Bernardino County honored her as one of the county’s oldest working seniors and presented her with a “Second To None” award for all the work she did. Helen was a lively, spirited woman with a friendly, infectious, upbeat and energetic personality. She lived her life to the fullest with purpose, determination, compassion and love. She was fun, a caring friend, a special Grandma and our loving Mom. She will truly be missed. She is survived by her two daughters, Darlene Bumgarner of Las Vegas, Nev. and Dot Swenson of Lake Havasu City; her two son-in-laws, Rolland Sutton and John Swenson; and her step-daughter, Hillary Koyler of Arroyo Grande, Calif.