Selma Grace Roberts Helm

Selma Grace Roberts Helm died Feb. 21, 2022, in Houston.   

She was born to Emanuel Milton Roberts and Christine La Constance Johnson Roberts in Cameron on Jan. 26, 1930. She accepted Christ at an early age and united with Progressive Baptist Church.. She attended the public schools in Cameron and graduated from O. J. Thomas High School as valedictorian of her class in 1948.   

Upon graduation from high school, she attended Huston-Tillotson College in Austin. After 2 ½ years, she realized she needed to make a change to chart her future. She enlisted in the United States Air Force on Nov. 5, 1951. She did her basic training at Lackland AFB in Austin. She later was sent to Ellington AFB in Houston, Texas. After 1 ½ years at Ellington, she asked to be transferred to Europe. She was shipped to Sealand AFB, Wales, British Isles. While in Wales, she was afforded the opportunity to travel.  She  visited  many  countries  including  Ireland,  Belgium,  France,  Germany,  Italy,  Lichtenstein, England, Switzerland, and Austria.  

After that she moved to Dayton, Ohio, and stayed with her brother, Johnson Van, his wife Nettie, and their family. She enrolled in Central State University where she graduated with honors. She taught school in Cleveland. She retired from the Cleveland Public School 

system in 1989. She moved back to Dayton in April 1990 and remained there until she moved to Houston on Oct. 15, 2014.  When she moved to Houston, her feet never touched the ground. She joined Lilly Grove Missionary Baptist Church in 2015.

She was preceded in death by her parents, and siblings, Saundra Marie Williams, Dolores Adrienne Scott, James Edwin Roberts, Lawrence Walton Roberts,  Lee Louis Roberts, Johnson Van Roberts.

She leaves to mourn her passing her remaining sibling, Barbara Ann Roberts Woods and a  host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.