Helen Grace Laza

In Loving Memory of Helen Grace Laza

Helen Grace Laza, 89, passed away peacefully on December 28, 2025, surrounded by the love of her family. Helen was born on September 18, 1936, in Danville, IL, to James Miles Canaday and Mary Virgina Hall Canaday. She worked in Crawfordsville, IN at the R.R. Donnally & Sons printing company as a proofreader for seven years after high school until she ventured out to join the U.S. Air Force in 1963. She was stationed at Lackland AFB in San Antionio, TX for basic training and later at Greenville AFB in Greenville, MS and Carswell AFB in Fort Worth, TX.

Helen was a homemaker for several years when her daughters were young then worked as a realtor, a successful salesperson and later in administration for the City of Fort Worth at the Will Rogers Memorial Center until her retirement in 2000. She married her husband, Jerry Norman Laza in 2004 and they have enjoyed their retirement years together. She loved singing and gospel music and was a member of the Goldtones Chorus where she performed at local retirement centers and performance halls. Helen loved playing Scrabble, gardening and traveling. Her favorite travel destinations were England and Lake Lucerne, Switzerland.

Helen was also known as Mama Helen and was a maternal force of nature for people and pets who needed a bandage, a meal or a hug. And she was fierce! Hell-on-Wheels! Helen was an empathetic listener and an advocate for the misfortunate, but not someone to be crossed. She loved dressing up in silly outfits and glittery costumes, especially for Halloween. She was a caring mother and grandmother who never minded mud, puddles, or painting as long as the kids had fun.

Everyone was amused by Helen’s malapropisms. She would talk about a person with ADD as having Adult Detention Disorder or a person needing an MRI required Magnetic Renaissance Imaging. A wine that she especially liked was “Cabaret”. Helen kept her family and friends in stitches of laughter telling them to remember that “Great minds work together!”

She is survived by her husband Jerry and by her daughters, Vonne Hillman Whittleton and Amy Hillman Free and sons-in-law, Chris Whittleton and Steven Free; her beloved grandchildren, Lana Hope Whittleton, Matthew Granville Free, Dean Christopher Whittleton and Benjamin Wright Free. Visitation hours will be at the Winscott Road Funeral Home, 1001 Winscott Road, Benbrook, TX 76126 from 6pm-8pm on Monday, January 5, 2026. A funeral service will also be held at the Winscott Funeral Home the following day, Tuesday, January 6, 2026, at 11am. She will be buried at a private service at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery for military personnel.

Helen will be deeply missed by all who knew her.