Helen Sterling

Helen Louise Sterling, 76, of Cape Girardeau died Friday, Feb. 19, 2010, at Southeast Missouri Hospital.

She was born Jan. 24, 1934, in Cape Girardeau, to Alex Bankhead and Elner Miller. She and Howard Sterling were married in September 1956.

Sterling was a 1952 graduate of John S. Cobb High School, and attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

She was a member of Second Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau, where she was church secretary, director of the kitchen and an usher.

Survivors include six sons, Michael (Bernice) of Birmingham, Ala., Steven (Darla) of Ullin, Ill., Robert of Milwaukee, Mark of Los Angeles, John of Cape Girardeau, Jeffrey (Holly) of St. Louis; a brother, Louis Nelson of Cape Girardeau; 14 grandchildren; 25 great-grandchildren; and a host of family and friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband and a son, Charles Sterling.

Friends may call from 2 p.m. to service time Friday at Second Baptist Church.

The funeral will be at 3 p.m. at the church, with the Rev. Wiley Reed officiating. Burial will be in Lorimier Cemetery.

Williams Funeral Home in Charleston, Mo., is in charge of arrangements.