Helen F. McHugh Brauer, 88, passed away on Saturday, May 9, at Barone Alzheimer’s Care Center in Nevada, Mo. Helen was born on Aug. 19, 1931, in Tucson, Ariz. She was the fourth child of James Patrick and Mary Catherine (Hochstatter) McHugh.
Helen spent most of her younger years and young adulthood in Nevada, Mo. Upon the death of her father, she and her siblings lived on a farm near Nevada with Joseph and Florence Hochstatter. She attended Maple Dale School for her elementary education, graduating from Nevada High School with the Class of 1947. Helen was active in 4-H and spent part of 1954 in Germany living and working with farm families, participating in the International Farm Youth Exchange.
Helen graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Home Economics in August of 1958 from the University of Missouri. She received her Masters’ of Science in Agricultural Economics in 1959 from MU, and was awarded her doctorate in economics from Iowa State University in the fall of 1965.
Dr. McHugh was an associate professor at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, Indiana State University in Terra Haute, Indiana, and at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. She was professor of consumer economics and dean of the College of Human Resources at the University of Delaware. At Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, Dr. McHugh was professor and dean of the College of Human Resources Sciences. She retired as associate director of the Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station in 1998.
Dr. McHugh was a member of many professional organizations and served on several boards and advisory councils. She has presented and published a number of professional papers.
Helen was married to Herbert J. Brauer on March 26, 1982, in Ft. Collins, where they resided until Mr. Brauer’s sudden death in November 1993. Hellen remained in Ft. Collins until moving back to Nevada to be near family.
Survivors include her sister, Jeanne Sheets of Nevada; sister-in-law, Roma McHugh of St. Louis; nieces and nephews are Connie Garton, Milo, Mike Sheets and Monte Sheets of Nevada, Lois Miller of Louisburg, Kan., Andrea Strack of Tucson, Ariz., Brian Wellendorf of Chesapeke, Va., Kathy Noland of St. Louis, and Bob McHugh of the Washington, D.C., area; numerous cousins, great-nieces and great-nephews also survive. In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents; her Aunt Florence and Uncle Joe; a sister, Mary Fidelis Wellendorf; her brother, James Patrick McHugh Jr. who was lost at sea in 1956 as a Navy pilot. She was also preceded in death by two brothers-in-law, Donald W. Sheets and W.E. Wellendorf.
Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m., Friday, May 15, at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Nevada with Father Peter Savidge officiating. Memorials are suggested to the “Meals” at Vernon County Senior Center.
The family wants to thank the staff at Morningside Assisted Living and Moore-Few Care Center for her care in the past. And a special thank you to Barone Alzheimer’s Care Center staff for her loving care.
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