EDMOND—More than 150 friends and family gathered in the John Amos Field House on February 26 to commemorate the life of Helen Amos, one of the original 12 members of the Philadelphia Church of God. Dozens of Herbert W. Armstrong College students viewed the memorial service via live video stream from overflow seating in the nearby Dwight Armstrong Performing Arts Conservatory.

Washington Preaching Elder Gareth Fraser, who is married to Mrs. Amos’s daughter Andrea, delivered an hour-long memorial address detailing Mrs. Amos’s long and memorable history in God’s Church.

Helen Hannah was born in Mesa, Arizona, on June 12, 1939, the youngest of six children. She and her mother listened to Herbert W. Armstrong’s World Tomorrow radio program, leading to their invitation to services in the Worldwide Church of God and their baptisms in 1962.

In 1967, Helen married John Amos. Mrs. Amos’s commitment to a man who already had three children from a prior marriage, Mr. Fraser said, demonstrated her meek spirit and her willingness to shoulder an extra burden without hesitation. The Amoses later had two children of their own, Ethan and Andrea, who were also among the pcg’s original members.

Mrs. Amos built her life around her husband, Mr. Fraser said, making possible a history-changing marriage. She supported him as he bought television time slots for the same World Tomorrow program that had attracted her to the wcg. She supported him as he moved from Arizona to Ohio to Oklahoma and back to Ohio again in service to God’s people as a minister. And she supported him as he was fired from the wcg on Dec. 7, 1989, for staying loyal to what pcg founder Gerald Flurry wrote in Malachi’s Message.

Several years after Mr. Amos’s death in 1993, Mrs. Amos remarried to another man with three children, Ed Reed, who later died in 2000. Mr. Fraser said that Mrs. Amos was familiar with and unafraid of death, which 1 Corinthians 15 describes as the last enemy for man to conquer.

“Helen Amos knew who she was, why she was, where she was going, and the way to get there,” Mr. Fraser said during the memorial service. “Her life is a window into her prayer life.”

Mrs. Amos remained loyal to God when the pcg possessed no buildings, no campuses, and only one book—a book that had gotten her husband fired. She repented, believed and never rebelled, even as the entire Church turned away from the truth taught by Herbert W. Armstrong. According to Mr. Fraser, she was tough, she knew where God was working, and she asked the deep questions.

During her second marriage, Mrs. Amos developed a love for travel, especially to areas like England, Ireland and Scotland, because of their connection with the throne of David, which Mr. Flurry emphasizes. She also had an interest in art, and for several years taught art classes to hwac and IA students and local members.

Mrs. Amos suffered a stroke a year ago, followed by a series of mini-strokes that led to a debilitating stroke a month before her death on February 16. Even when facing the end of her physical life, Mrs. Amos remained focused on sacrificing for God’s Work. Barely able to communicate, she told her son that she wanted to increase her contributions to the Church. The final co-worker letter she received from Mr. Flurry was found to be heavily marked up.

Mrs. Amos was gentle and considerate. Before she died, she heard about one of her relatives losing the diamond from her wedding ring. Struggling to search through her jewelry box, she found a replacement. “Use this diamond,” she said.

Mr. Fraser showed from the Bible that his mother-in-law will usher in an age of spiritual diamonds. “Her gesture lives on for eternity,” he said. Mrs. Amos loved to look at the stars and envision her future, he said, and she lived the best life possible.

Mrs. Amos was buried in Gracelawn Cemetery in Edmond, the same cemetery where pcg founding lady Barbara Flurry was buried more than 12 years ago.