Helen Marie Howarth
Jan 5, 1961 -
Jan 16, 2025
Mom, Adventurer, Champion of Arts and Community and Cheese Connoisseur
In Helen Howarth's eyes, family, adventure, music and art gave life its vibrancy. If an adventure could be had, she would soon orchestrate it. Communities? She strove to fortify them. People? Everyone had a story, and Helen wanted to hear them. When Helen passed away on Jan. 16, 2025, at the age of 64, there was still a long list of wonders to pursue, music to make and family and friends to love.
Helen was born in Anchorage, Alaska, during a golden age of neighborhood escapades. She zig-zagged through side yards to reach the Lions Park, spent nickels on candy at Thrifty Drugs and was frightened that a shoelace could be caught in the escalator at JCPenney. She was the exemplary middle child – intelligent, creative, adaptable and collaborative. Her parents, Alice and Phil, ensured there was space to nurture her talents and curiosity through clubs, athletics, outdoor exploration and all types of arts, where she excelled and garnered local, state and regional awards.
In youth, Helen's energy found outlets in giant winter snowmen and summer yard mazes, sewing and craft projects - as a teen, she was an Alaska State 4-H Clothing Winner, earning an all-expense-paid trip to Chicago for Nationals - and most impressively, a catamaran she convinced her dad to let her build at the age of 13. Athletics were second nature. Helen's favorite sport was gymnastics, and she was a member of East High's Championship team for all three years. It was no surprise that in her 20s, she would be an early adopter of rollerblading, parasailing, mountain biking, kayaking, women's hockey and telemark skiing - acquiring or making gear that would now be laughingly outdated. It is said that Helen was the first non-employee to parasail off Mt. Alyeska in the early days of the sport.
Music was the metronome through which Helen's life coursed. At the age of 7, she started piano lessons under the watchful eye of a tiny, ruler-wielding teacher, and soon added the cello - because, per her mother, a bass was too big. After graduating from East Anchorage High School, she pursued music performance at Washington State University. Her senior recital could rival any RCA vinyl, but after master classes with Janos Starker, an acid test for stomaching critics, she decided that a Masters in Arts Management from the University of Cincinnati, complemented by symphony, folk and chamber music, would be a better career course.
Returning to Anchorage, Helen became a force in the arts, serving as the Executive Director of the Anchorage Symphony, Sitka Music Festival and Alaska State Council on the Arts, and later joined the Rasmuson Foundation as Arts and Culture Program Officer. In Helen's spare time, she could be found playing Celtic and chamber music, and occasionally jamming with her son Connor's garage band for the sheer fun of it. For 22 years straight, she played for Temple Beth Shalom's Yom Kippur services. Her husband Jeff liked to tease that she had a better attendance record than most of the temple's members.
Friends and family recognized that Helen was the human form of Remy, in Pixar's Ratatouille - with customary gastronomic wizardry, she could turn three ingredients into a gourmet meal - but few knew she was a cheese connoisseur until she announced her dream of opening an artisan cheese shop. Fromagio's Artisan Cheese opened in 2010, and truly did make the best mac and cheese in the city. Her philosophy was that while fine food could be expensive, anyone should be able to savor a bit of marvelous cheese or salami for under $5. She passed the business on after she took the role as Cordova's City Manager, showing her respect for business owners with the comment, "Running a city is easier than running a small business."
Helen loved her job as City Manager of Cordova, the town where her husband Jeff has fished for over 40 years. Her tenure, from September 2019 until June 2024, was remarkable. She arrived to run the city and quickly ended up managing the COVID-19 crisis. Her steady hand helped the community to mitigate the difficulties and fears of the pandemic. One proud achievement was that she found a way to directly distribute $1million to individual community members who lived in Cordova. The local businesses benefited and the city received sales taxes - a win for all. She also raised over $40 million through grants and state funding to replace the city harbor, a project completed in 2024.
For Helen, community vibrancy was not an abstract concept, it was a way of life. Motherhood was her greatest pride, and so community began at home, where she and her husband Jeff raised their three children, Connor, Philip and Margeaux, in a cacophonous and delightful household brimming with an eclectic array of pets, hedgehogs, dogs, reptiles - you name it; and creative contraptions, an indoor climbing wall and an outdoor aerial adventure net. She was a "second mom" to many: lending an ear, being a cheerleader or plying one with cookies. She could rally people to beautify Anchorage with her collaborative touch and open her door and her heart to anyone in need, whether or not she actually knew them.
Helen's legacy is a vibrant web of connections: family, friends and the countless people whose lives she touched with her energy, warmth and unflagging belief in the power of community. She will be deeply missed - but her memory will live on in the adventures we pursue, the music we make and the love we share.
Helen's courageous journey with cancer ended peacefully on Jan. 16, 2025. She is survived by her husband, J. Jeffrey Bailey; children, Connor Bailey, Philip Bailey, and Margeaux Bailey; sisters, Jean Howarth Lindberg (Jeff) and Carol Howarth (Jim Mendenhall), who were by her side in her final days. The family thanks Providence Infusion Center, and her friends for their support. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her honor to your favorite Alaska arts organization. A celebration of life will be held in early spring 2025.
