Helen Draper Fagg

Helen Draper Fagg passed away on September 16, 2023 in San Antonio, Texas, at the age of 97. She was born near Darrouzett in the Texas Panhandle on November 8, 1925, the youngest child of Glen and Linnie (Howlett) Draper.

In 1927 her parents purchased land in Edinburg, Texas. From then until 1966, Helen spent summers in the Panhandle and the other three seasons in the Rio Grande Valley, as the family farmed wheat in the north and citrus in the south of Texas. The result was a lifetime of beloved friends at both ends of the state.

Helen graduated from Edinburg High School and briefly attended what was then Edinburg Junior College. In 1943 she married Paul (Pete) Fagg, a lieutenant and pilot instructor at Moore Air Base near Edinburg. Pete became a decorated pilot during World War II. After the war, Helen and Pete had three children, earned degrees from Pan American University, and began teaching school in addition to farming near Edinburg and on her family’s wheat farm in the Panhandle. Helen taught first grade at Jefferson Elementary in Edinburg for five years. Over time, she and Pete acquired and farmed extensive additional wheat land, and in 1966 they moved to Perryton, Texas to be near their land holdings there year-around. As important as farming was to them, they always said their children were their “most important crop.” They spent 13 winters and celebrated family holidays on South Padre Island. In 1996 they retired to Palm Valley in Harlingen, where they enjoyed the beauty of their surroundings and the many friends they made.

Helen loved antique glass collecting, a lifelong hobby she inherited from her mother along with a significant collection of American and international art glass. In the Panhandle years she and Pete were extensive vegetable gardeners. She shared many pounds of asparagus and tomatoes each season with fortunate friends and neighbors, and canned hundreds of jars of produce over the years. Her expert sewing was renowned, and she made beautiful clothes for the entire family. She was also known as an excellent cook, whether feeding fried chicken and fresh cherry cobbler to a table full of hired hands or a delicious enchilada dinner for family or friends. In her retirement years, she took up bird watching and taught herself to use the latest computer technology, keeping up with friends and skillfully managing her stock portfolio. Anything she set her mind to, would be accomplished.

She loved to travel. She and Pete traveled to all 50 states, including family vacations to both coasts and three visits to Hawaii. They also traveled cross-country in a motor home. With friends, they traveled throughout Canada’s provinces, Europe, and Asia, as well as to Bermuda, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico and Mexico. Helen was always the tour organizer, for trips including as many as 19 people.

Helen was an avid bridge player, winning far more often than not but always in it for the fun. She treasured the friendships that developed around card tables in Edinburg, Perryton, and Palm Valley. She returned to her hometown of Edinburg for Senior League luncheon events several times a year.

She was a volunteer leader for many causes in both the Valley and the Panhandle (March of Dimes, Hospital Auxiliary, Satellite Day Care School, and others), and was an active, lifelong member of the First United Methodist Church. She helped friends and relatives in need. She was a loving and devoted wife and mother who always put her family first. She will be sorely missed by those who remain.

Helen was beloved at Arden Courts in San Antonio, where she lived her final years. The family extends their heartfelt appreciation to her caregivers there, who always went the extra mile.

Survivors include three children, Linda Ellsworth (George Mann) of San Antonio, TX; Paul Draper (Betsy) of Waynesville, NC; and Sharon Wyse (Ray Palermo) of Brooklyn, NY; three grandsons, Glen Sanford (Carolyn Dunbar) of Alameda, CA; Alex Ellsworth of San Francisco, CA; and Evan Draper of Los Angeles, CA; a great-grandson, Oslo Sanford Dunbar; a sister-in-law, Pat McWhorter; a niece, Nonda Goldsberry Turner; a nephew, Bill Goldsberry; and an “adopted daughter,” Marianne Lapish Coleman of London, England, who lived with the family as an exchange student. She was preceded in death by her sister, Isla Goldsberry; her brother, L.C. Draper; and her husband of 67 years, Paul (Pete) Fagg.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the First United Methodist Church of Perryton, TX, or the First United Methodist Church of Harlingen,TX.