Helen Leone Paty Stamps, age 89¾, passed away March 17 as a result of complications following a fall. Helen attended Duke University for two years, transferring during WWII to Agnes Scott College, where she graduated in 1945. She served as a Navy Cadet Nurse in WWII for 16 months. Her father, Robert Morris Paty, Jr., MD, was Acting Dean of Medicine at Emory and Head of the Emory Hospital. Helen was born in Boston where her father was doing his medical residence, and was taken to China where her father and mother, Katherine Behenna Paty, were Methodist missionaries. She had attended the Shanghai American School, Class of 1941, where she and her future husband, George Moreland Stamps, were classmates and met in the eighth grade. Helen graduated from the Ward Belmont Prep School in Nashville, TN.
Helen and George, a senior at Wake Forest and former 8th Air Force B-17 pilot, were married in 1946 and celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary last November. Their four children, Margaret Evalyn, Robert Fletcher, Thomas Paty, and John Belk were born in New York State where George was a graduate student in physics at Columbia University. Helen taught the Jr. High Sunday School class at New Hyde Park Presbyterian Church for 9 years, and was a Cub Scout Den Mother. The family was transferred to California, where Helen served as the Noon Duty Supervisor at Palos Verdes Jr. High. Next transferred by Magnavox to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, Helen served in the University of Illinois Personnel Department, in charge of hiring and placing all temporary help. Transferred to Fort Wayne, Helen was Director of Social Services at Irene Byron Hospital. In 1973 George was appointed Manager of Business Development at the Xerox Corporate Headquarters at Stamford, CT, living in Westport, CT. Helen was elected Democratic Registrar of Voters for Westport, serving for ten years.
Helen first moved to Newton County in 1941, and lived in the Bishop Haygood Mansion. In 1986 the Stamps moved back to Newton County, where Helen’s father had been the First Chief of Medicine at Newton Hospital, and where her mother had founded the Library and the Mental Health Services of Newton County. Helen and George lived at Stone Lea Lake for 22 years, and for the past 3 years at The Benton House of Covington. Helen had served as President of the Friends of the Library, President of the Service Guild of Covington, and President of the Covington Book Club. She is survived by her husband and 2 of her 4 children, 11 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren. She is survived by son Robert Fletcher Stamps, a retired AF JAG Colonel and his wife Quanah Crossland Stamps of Arlington, VA, and by their daughter Sequoyah Britainy Stamps of Los Angeles, CA; by son John Belk Stamps and wife Kathleen Gerbracht Stamps of Oxford and their children Josie Behenna Stamps, a sophomore at GA State Univ., by Harrison Dillon Stamps and Fletcher James Stamps, at Newton High; by grandchildren Dr. Katherine Stamps Mitchell, PhD, and her husband Dr. Gregory Mitchell, MD, and daughter Helen Claire of New Orleans, LA; by Capt. George Belk Stamps, US Marine Corps JAG in Hawaii; by Elizabeth Margaret Stamps of Houston, TX; by Walker Paty Stamps and Carley Lynn Stamps of Dahlonega; by Christopher John Bonkowski, and his wife Kathryn, Attorneys in Irvine, CA, and son Maxwell and daughter Sloane; by Brion James Bonkowski of Manhattan, NY.
A Memorial Service for Mrs. Stamps will be held Friday, March 28, 2014, 2:00 PM, at First Presbyterian Church Covington with Rev. Dr. William B. Wade, Jr. officiating and interment following in Oxford Historical Cemetery. The family will receive friends prior to the service, from 12:30 PM until 2:00 PM, in the church fellowship hall. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in her memory to First Presbyterian Church Covington, 1169 Clark Street, Covington, GA 30014.
