Helen Cornwell Shear passed away Wednesday (Feb. 25, 2009) at home.
She was born Sept. 1, 1914, on a Cherokee Indian reservation near Chelsea, Okla., where her father, Arthur L. Cornwell, was in the oil business. Mr. Cornwell founded C & G Wheel Puller, which was later renamed Hydramec, Inc. His father, Daniel Eli Cornwell, was a Civil War veteran. Helen’s mother, Mabel Williams Cornwell, was the daughter of Henry Williams, the founder of Williams Store in Stannards.
While Helen was still an infant, the Cornwells returned to Wellsville, where they bought a house on Chestnut Street. Helen attended Martin Street School and Wellsville High School. She then attended and graduated with a bachelor of fine arts from Syracuse University. While at Syracuse, she was a member and past president of Pi Beta Phi, was on the Junior Executive Committee and was a member of her departmental honorary. Following graduation, Helen worked as an art teacher in Oswego. While there, she was a member of the Women’s City Club and AAUW.
She then returned to Wellsville from Oswego to marry A. Norbert Shear, who was vice president of C & G Wheel Puller company (now Hydramec, Inc.). C & G Wheel Puller moved from Wellsville to a larger plant in Scio in 1940 and in the same year, Helen and Norb moved to a home adjacent to the company, where they lived for 14 years. Norb Shear became president of C & G after Mr. Cornwell’s death in 1948. Helen served as treasurer of the company and also worked in the drafting department over several years, particularly during the war years.
Before her first child was born, Helen substituted as a teacher at Wellsville High School, instructing students in art and mechanical drawing. She became a member of the local chapter of AAUW, Hemlock Twig and The Monday Club as well as a member of the golf and ladies bridge clubs at the Wellsville Country Club. She remained a member of these clubs throughout the remainder of her life.
The couple relocated back to Wellsville in 1955, purchasing a house at 393 N. Main St., where they lived for 50 years and where Helen took great pleasure in her wild flower garden, rose garden and her perennial borders. Throughout her life, she was continually interested in bird life and belonged to the county bird club.
Helen and Norb traveled extensively both in this country and internationally. Helen was especially interested in Egypt, which she and Norb visited several times. Helen wrote three books based on Egyptian history, the first of which was copyrighted in 1985.
She continued to paint for most of her life. She taught local painting classes and took lessons in life drawing as late as 2004 in SaddleBrooke in Arizona. She and her husband owned a trout-fishing cabin with friends on Kettle Creek in Pennsylvania, where she enjoyed painting oil portraits and landscapes as well as hiking and entertaining family and friends. They often spoke of their happy years there.
Helen and Norb spent several months of each winter in Florida, for the most part at the former Key Biscayne Hotel in Key Biscayne, Fla., where they rented a villa. Later, they rented a condominium on the ocean in Naples, Fla., where they spent many happy, active years.
Helen is survived by all of her children, Constance (John) Sparbel of Carson City, Nev. and Tuscon, Ariz., Marcea (Robert) Rundquist of Northampton, Mass. and Gregg Shear of Wellsville; her four grandchildren, Sarah (Rundquist) Reeves, Ann (Rundquist) Gottert, Hillary Shear and Brett Shear; nieces and nephews; and many friends.
She was predeceased by her husband in 1998; her grandparents (all of whom she remembered well); her parents; and a sister, Marie Cornwell Grastorf.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the David A. Howe Public Library in Wellsville.
The funeral service will take place at 1 p.m. Monday at the Mulholland-Crowell Funeral Home in Wellsville.
She was born Sept. 1, 1914, on a Cherokee Indian reservation near Chelsea, Okla., where her father, Arthur L. Cornwell, was in the oil business. Mr. Cornwell founded C & G Wheel Puller, which was later renamed Hydramec, Inc. His father, Daniel Eli Cornwell, was a Civil War veteran. Helen’s mother, Mabel Williams Cornwell, was the daughter of Henry Williams, the founder of Williams Store in Stannards.
While Helen was still an infant, the Cornwells returned to Wellsville, where they bought a house on Chestnut Street. Helen attended Martin Street School and Wellsville High School. She then attended and graduated with a bachelor of fine arts from Syracuse University. While at Syracuse, she was a member and past president of Pi Beta Phi, was on the Junior Executive Committee and was a member of her departmental honorary. Following graduation, Helen worked as an art teacher in Oswego. While there, she was a member of the Women’s City Club and AAUW.
She then returned to Wellsville from Oswego to marry A. Norbert Shear, who was vice president of C & G Wheel Puller company (now Hydramec, Inc.). C & G Wheel Puller moved from Wellsville to a larger plant in Scio in 1940 and in the same year, Helen and Norb moved to a home adjacent to the company, where they lived for 14 years. Norb Shear became president of C & G after Mr. Cornwell’s death in 1948. Helen served as treasurer of the company and also worked in the drafting department over several years, particularly during the war years.
Before her first child was born, Helen substituted as a teacher at Wellsville High School, instructing students in art and mechanical drawing. She became a member of the local chapter of AAUW, Hemlock Twig and The Monday Club as well as a member of the golf and ladies bridge clubs at the Wellsville Country Club. She remained a member of these clubs throughout the remainder of her life.
The couple relocated back to Wellsville in 1955, purchasing a house at 393 N. Main St., where they lived for 50 years and where Helen took great pleasure in her wild flower garden, rose garden and her perennial borders. Throughout her life, she was continually interested in bird life and belonged to the county bird club.
Helen and Norb traveled extensively both in this country and internationally. Helen was especially interested in Egypt, which she and Norb visited several times. Helen wrote three books based on Egyptian history, the first of which was copyrighted in 1985.
She continued to paint for most of her life. She taught local painting classes and took lessons in life drawing as late as 2004 in SaddleBrooke in Arizona. She and her husband owned a trout-fishing cabin with friends on Kettle Creek in Pennsylvania, where she enjoyed painting oil portraits and landscapes as well as hiking and entertaining family and friends. They often spoke of their happy years there.
Helen and Norb spent several months of each winter in Florida, for the most part at the former Key Biscayne Hotel in Key Biscayne, Fla., where they rented a villa. Later, they rented a condominium on the ocean in Naples, Fla., where they spent many happy, active years.
Helen is survived by all of her children, Constance (John) Sparbel of Carson City, Nev. and Tuscon, Ariz., Marcea (Robert) Rundquist of Northampton, Mass. and Gregg Shear of Wellsville; her four grandchildren, Sarah (Rundquist) Reeves, Ann (Rundquist) Gottert, Hillary Shear and Brett Shear; nieces and nephews; and many friends.
She was predeceased by her husband in 1998; her grandparents (all of whom she remembered well); her parents; and a sister, Marie Cornwell Grastorf.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the David A. Howe Public Library in Wellsville.
The funeral service will take place at 1 p.m. Monday at the Mulholland-Crowell Funeral Home in Wellsville.
Helen Cornwell Shear passed away Wednesday (Feb. 25, 2009) at home.
She was born Sept. 1, 1914, on a Cherokee Indian reservation near Chelsea, Okla., where her father, Arthur L. Cornwell, was in the oil business. Mr. Cornwell founded C & G Wheel Puller, which was later renamed Hydramec, Inc. His father, Daniel Eli Cornwell, was a Civil War veteran. Helen’s mother, Mabel Williams Cornwell, was the daughter of Henry Williams, the founder of Williams Store in Stannards.
While Helen was still an infant, the Cornwells returned to Wellsville, where they bought a house on Chestnut Street. Helen attended Martin Street School and Wellsville High School. She then attended and graduated with a bachelor of fine arts from Syracuse University. While at Syracuse, she was a member and past president of Pi Beta Phi, was on the Junior Executive Committee and was a member of her departmental honorary. Following graduation, Helen worked as an art teacher in Oswego. While there, she was a member of the Women’s City Club and AAUW.
She then returned to Wellsville from Oswego to marry A. Norbert Shear, who was vice president of C & G Wheel Puller company (now Hydramec, Inc.). C & G Wheel Puller moved from Wellsville to a larger plant in Scio in 1940 and in the same year, Helen and Norb moved to a home adjacent to the company, where they lived for 14 years. Norb Shear became president of C & G after Mr. Cornwell’s death in 1948. Helen served as treasurer of the company and also worked in the drafting department over several years, particularly during the war years.
Before her first child was born, Helen substituted as a teacher at Wellsville High School, instructing students in art and mechanical drawing. She became a member of the local chapter of AAUW, Hemlock Twig and The Monday Club as well as a member of the golf and ladies bridge clubs at the Wellsville Country Club. She remained a member of these clubs throughout the remainder of her life.
The couple relocated back to Wellsville in 1955, purchasing a house at 393 N. Main St., where they lived for 50 years and where Helen took great pleasure in her wild flower garden, rose garden and her perennial borders. Throughout her life, she was continually interested in bird life and belonged to the county bird club.
Helen and Norb traveled extensively both in this country and internationally. Helen was especially interested in Egypt, which she and Norb visited several times. Helen wrote three books based on Egyptian history, the first of which was copyrighted in 1985.
She continued to paint for most of her life. She taught local painting classes and took lessons in life drawing as late as 2004 in SaddleBrooke in Arizona. She and her husband owned a trout-fishing cabin with friends on Kettle Creek in Pennsylvania, where she enjoyed painting oil portraits and landscapes as well as hiking and entertaining family and friends. They often spoke of their happy years there.
Helen and Norb spent several months of each winter in Florida, for the most part at the former Key Biscayne Hotel in Key Biscayne, Fla., where they rented a villa. Later, they rented a condominium on the ocean in Naples, Fla., where they spent many happy, active years.
Helen is survived by all of her children, Constance (John) Sparbel of Carson City, Nev. and Tuscon, Ariz., Marcea (Robert) Rundquist of Northampton, Mass. and Gregg Shear of Wellsville; her four grandchildren, Sarah (Rundquist) Reeves, Ann (Rundquist) Gottert, Hillary Shear and Brett Shear; nieces and nephews; and many friends.
She was predeceased by her husband in 1998; her grandparents (all of whom she remembered well); her parents; and a sister, Marie Cornwell Grastorf.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the David A. Howe Public Library in Wellsville.
The funeral service will take place at 1 p.m. Monday at the Mulholland-Crowell Funeral Home in Wellsville.
She was born Sept. 1, 1914, on a Cherokee Indian reservation near Chelsea, Okla., where her father, Arthur L. Cornwell, was in the oil business. Mr. Cornwell founded C & G Wheel Puller, which was later renamed Hydramec, Inc. His father, Daniel Eli Cornwell, was a Civil War veteran. Helen’s mother, Mabel Williams Cornwell, was the daughter of Henry Williams, the founder of Williams Store in Stannards.
While Helen was still an infant, the Cornwells returned to Wellsville, where they bought a house on Chestnut Street. Helen attended Martin Street School and Wellsville High School. She then attended and graduated with a bachelor of fine arts from Syracuse University. While at Syracuse, she was a member and past president of Pi Beta Phi, was on the Junior Executive Committee and was a member of her departmental honorary. Following graduation, Helen worked as an art teacher in Oswego. While there, she was a member of the Women’s City Club and AAUW.
She then returned to Wellsville from Oswego to marry A. Norbert Shear, who was vice president of C & G Wheel Puller company (now Hydramec, Inc.). C & G Wheel Puller moved from Wellsville to a larger plant in Scio in 1940 and in the same year, Helen and Norb moved to a home adjacent to the company, where they lived for 14 years. Norb Shear became president of C & G after Mr. Cornwell’s death in 1948. Helen served as treasurer of the company and also worked in the drafting department over several years, particularly during the war years.
Before her first child was born, Helen substituted as a teacher at Wellsville High School, instructing students in art and mechanical drawing. She became a member of the local chapter of AAUW, Hemlock Twig and The Monday Club as well as a member of the golf and ladies bridge clubs at the Wellsville Country Club. She remained a member of these clubs throughout the remainder of her life.
The couple relocated back to Wellsville in 1955, purchasing a house at 393 N. Main St., where they lived for 50 years and where Helen took great pleasure in her wild flower garden, rose garden and her perennial borders. Throughout her life, she was continually interested in bird life and belonged to the county bird club.
Helen and Norb traveled extensively both in this country and internationally. Helen was especially interested in Egypt, which she and Norb visited several times. Helen wrote three books based on Egyptian history, the first of which was copyrighted in 1985.
She continued to paint for most of her life. She taught local painting classes and took lessons in life drawing as late as 2004 in SaddleBrooke in Arizona. She and her husband owned a trout-fishing cabin with friends on Kettle Creek in Pennsylvania, where she enjoyed painting oil portraits and landscapes as well as hiking and entertaining family and friends. They often spoke of their happy years there.
Helen and Norb spent several months of each winter in Florida, for the most part at the former Key Biscayne Hotel in Key Biscayne, Fla., where they rented a villa. Later, they rented a condominium on the ocean in Naples, Fla., where they spent many happy, active years.
Helen is survived by all of her children, Constance (John) Sparbel of Carson City, Nev. and Tuscon, Ariz., Marcea (Robert) Rundquist of Northampton, Mass. and Gregg Shear of Wellsville; her four grandchildren, Sarah (Rundquist) Reeves, Ann (Rundquist) Gottert, Hillary Shear and Brett Shear; nieces and nephews; and many friends.
She was predeceased by her husband in 1998; her grandparents (all of whom she remembered well); her parents; and a sister, Marie Cornwell Grastorf.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the David A. Howe Public Library in Wellsville.
The funeral service will take place at 1 p.m. Monday at the Mulholland-Crowell Funeral Home in Wellsville.
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