Obituary

Helen Louise Cropley passed away peacefully at home in Charleston on July 14, 2023.

She was born on April 5, 1931, in Trinidad, Colorado, the daughter of Daniel James Sutherland and Helen Eva Hayes. She was preceded in death by her parents, and is survived by Jean B. Cropley of Charleston, her husband of 66 years; their son Thomas G. Cropley, daughter-in-law Cecelia C. Cropley, and grandson Ian Cropley, all of Charlottesville, Virginia; brothers Daniel W. Sutherland of Chicago, Illinois, and Richard T. Sutherland (and spouse Caroline Watt-Sutherland) of Wichita Falls, Texas. She is also survived by nephew Daniel J. Sutherland, nieces Susan E. Sutherland and Elizabeth Sanderson, and two great-nieces, all of Chicago, Illinois.

Helen’s family moved from Trinidad to St. Louis not long after she was born, and then several years later to Houston, Texas, where she graduated from San Jacinto High School. She then attended the University of Colorado, earning a BA Degree in English in 1953, and Rice University in Houston, earning an MA Degree in English in 1956. She then returned to the University of Colorado, where she and Jean Cropley were married on April 13, 1957.

The couple moved to South Charleston, WV in October 1957, where Jean joined Union Carbide Chemicals Company. They lived in South Charleston until 1979, when they moved to a new home in Scott Depot, WV where they lived for the next 43 years. They moved to Edgewood Summit in Charleston in 2022.

Helen was a homemaker, a wife and mother, and a professor of English at West Virginia State College, where she taught English Composition, Business Writing, and Technical Writing for 25 years from 1965 to 1990. She also represented the College on the West Virginia Board of Regents Council.

An avid reader, she was deeply interested in genealogy, stamp collecting, and photography. Jean and Helen also traveled widely in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Africa, India, and South America.

Plans are incomplete for a memorial service for family and close friends.

Condolences may be sent to the family at www.barlowbonsall.com.

Barlow Bonsall Funeral Home, Charleston has been entrusted with the arrangements.