Helen Theresa Peck

Helen Theresa Dykes Peck, a woman of accomplishment, died on December 2, 2021, at her home in the KingsBridge Retirement Community in DeKalb County, Georgia. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana on May 4, 1921, she lived 100 years and 7 months, a long life marked by Christian faith and joy.
Helen graduated from high school in 1939 in Bogalusa, Louisiana, at the top of her class. Her father, H. E. Dykes, taught at the “trade school” in Bogalusa. Her mother, Arnette Thrailkill Dykes, ran the store and gasoline station the family owned. Helen’s parents prized education of all kinds. They accepted a scholarship offer from Mississippi Women’s College in Hattiesburg, (now William Carey University.) When a family member told Arnette it would be better if Helen married a man from the paper mill and got a job at the Woolworth’s, Arnette said, “That may be good enough for your daughter, but it’s not good enough for mine.”
Helen transferred to what is now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She earned a B.A. in English in 1942, then attended Louisiana State University, where she earned a B.S in Library Science in 1944. She was admitted to the Phi Kappa Phi honor society at LSU.
Helen joined the State Library of Louisiana. Louisiana had made a commitment to open a public library in every parish. In early 1946, she was assigned to Washington Parish, her home parish. On April 28, 1946, the Washington Parish Library opened with Helen Dykes as the founding librarian, just 6 days before her 25th birthday. She opened a “separate-but-equal” branch for the Black community just 60 days later. She told her son she was determined to get that branch open as soon as possible “because separate-but-equal was wrong.” The voters of Washington
Parish approved a library tax levy in the fall of 1946. The Washington Parish Library thrives today after 75 years.
At UL-L, she roomed with Betty Kate Lee of Slidell, Louisiana, and attended the Baptist Student Union and the First Baptist Church of Lafayette. A young man named James Peck was among their circle of friends. Helen was a bridesmaid at Jim and Betty Kate’s 1946 wedding. A daughter, Katherine Elizabeth, was born to them in 1950. By that time, Jim, a mechanical engineer, had completed his Master of Divinity and become a Baptist pastor. Helen continued her library career in Washington Parish.
Betty Kate died in early 1952 of cancer. Jim contacted Helen to express an interest in renewing their friendship. They were married at Superior Avenue Baptist Church in Bogalusa on January 24, 1953. She moved then to Nederland, Texas to begin life as a pastor’s wife and mother.
Jim decided to become a chaplain. The family moved to New Orleans so he could study at New Orleans Baptist Seminary. Helen worked in the seminary library. They then moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina. There, Jim studied clinical pastoral education at North Carolina Baptist Hospital. Helen worked in the public library. In 1957, the family, now including Helen’s mother, moved to Lenoir, North Carolina. Jim worked as chaplain for the Broyhill Furniture Company, one of the first workplace chaplains in the country. Helen set about organizing a library at the First Baptist Church.
On January 21, 1958, James, Jr., was born, Helen’s only child, and Jim’s second child and only son.
The family moved to Atlanta in 1959 when Jim went to work for the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, leading a program in industrial and institutional chaplaincy. The family settled in the growing suburbs of north DeKalb County. Jim, Sr., Helen, Katherine, and Arnette were charter members of Briarcliff Baptist Church, where Helen organized a library, sang in the choir, and held positions of
leadership. At the time of her death, Helen had the same telephone number she first got in 1959.
Jim, Sr., was killed in a one-car auto accident on August 12, 1961, just 45 miles from home, in Dallas, Georgia. He was returning to Atlanta from a work-related trip to New Mexico. Helen believed he was pushing to get home so he could surprise his children, and fell asleep at the wheel.
A widow at 40, she returned to work as a librarian, joining the DeKalb County Public Schools. She was assigned to Warren Elementary School when it opened in 1963 and remained there until her retirement in 1983.
Helen loved to travel, always looking for a new place to visit. Even before her retirement, she had explored much of the eastern and southern United States, and had participated in Friendship Force trips to England, the Netherlands, China, and Ireland. Her Road Scholar ventures took her hither and yon, including a trip to the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California.
She visited her son in New York, Colorado, Minnesota, and California. Helen loved a good road trip, farmer’s markets, and historic sites. She did not neglect family in Bradenton, Florida; several places in Louisiana; and Columbia County, Arkansas, her mother’s family home. Jewelry, bought from the crafter, was her favorite souvenir. She enjoyed music - Atlanta Symphony season tickets for many years; museums of all kinds; sewing; gardening; reading; and shopping at antique shops, flea markets, and yard sales; and, in recent years, working word search books. She read the Atlanta newspaper every day. While not sporty, she watched LSU football when she could and was happy the Braves won the 2021 World Series.
She was predeceased by her parents, H. Emmett and Arnette Dykes; her husband, James C. Peck, Sr; her step-daughter, Katherine Elizabeth Peck; her brother, Hugh E. Dykes and his wife, Louise Chambless Dykes; her father and mother-in-law, Wilson J. Peck and Mary Jane Peck; her brother-in-law Wilson J. Peck and his wife, Evelyn Kelley Peck, and her
brother-in-law, Clyde Sebastian. Helen had many wonderful friends over her long life, most of whom predeceased her.
Helen is survived by her son, James C. Peck, Jr., of Chico, California; her sister-in-law, Beatrice Peck Sebastian, of Lafayette, Louisiana. Nieces Sally Dykes Cario (Frank) of Spring, Texas, and their family; Fran Sebastian Himel (Mark) of Chicago, Illinois, and their family; and Virginia Peck of Lafayette, Louisiana. Nephews Emmett Dykes of Bradenton, Florida, and his family; Kelley Peck (Charlotte), of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and their family; Henry Sebastian, of Lafayette, Louisiana; and Chip Sebastian (Kelli), of Lafayette, Louisiana, and their family.
A cemetery service and burial will be at Greenlawn Memorial Gardens in Lafayette, Louisiana on February 22, 2022 at 1:30 p.m. Masks are requested by her son. No memorial service will be held in Atlanta. A Facebook page called Helen Peck Memorial has been established. Please visit that page after February 26 to view memorial content.
Memorial gifts may be made to Washington Parish Library, 825 Free St., Franklinton, LA 70438; McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University, 3001 Mercer University Dr, Atlanta, GA 30341; Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Foundation, 160 Clairemont Ave. Suite 500, Decatur, GA. 30030.
Her son expresses unbounded gratitude to the entire staff at KingsBridge Retirement Community for their kindness and care over her 36 years living there, both independently and in assisted living.
Reflect on Helen’s favorite Bible verse: Micah 6:8 - “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”