Helen Tremaine Gregory

On January 24, 2019, Helen Tremaine Gregory passed away at the age of 73 at her home in Streetsboro, Ohio after a three-year battle with brain cancer. Her husband of 50 years, Stanford W. Gregory, Jr., wrote the following tribute in her honor.
The prehensile tail of a spider monkey automatically grasps a branch for safety with every step. In much the same way, my hand would seek out Helen's firm grasp as we walked life's path. Her hand has guided me through the past 53 years, keeping me from any trivial-or serious-falls. Her ability to keep a steady path has infused her leadership and guidance in relations with others too, from her family and friends to her professional and extra-professional life.
Born Helen Maud Tremaine on January 1, 1946 in New York, NY, Helen was the youngest of four daughters. She attended the University of Colorado, Boulder, completing her BA in International Relations in 1968. Her professional career began at UC Boulder as an undergraduate editor of the campus newspaper, The Colorado Daily. After we married in 1968, I was called to active duty in the US Air Force in the Republic of Korea. Helen moved to Seoul and worked as an editor at The Korea Herald, an English language newspaper. After we returned to the US in 1969, she became an editor in University Publications at UC Boulder. In 1972, I accepted an assistant professorship at Kent State University, we moved to Kent, and Helen became Director of Continuing Education in the College of Special Programs from 1973-79. Moving up quickly, Helen became the Director of the Evening and Weekend College in 1979 then the Executive Director of Special Programs in 1980. In 1983, Helen completed her executive MBA at KSU. We moved to Alexandria, Egypt for a Fulbright year in 1984, and Helen became an international business consultant until 1988. Helen was hired by Western Reserve Academy in 1988 where she served as the Director of the Annual Fund until 1993 and the Director of Advancement until 2009. In her tenure at WRA, she raised over $100 million. The Honorable John D. Ong, Chairman of the WRA Board of Trustees during Helen's tenure, recently remarked in a letter to Helen, "The School would not be what it is today without the organization and planning that you provided." In November of 2018, a classroom in the Mathematics building at WRA was dedicated to Helen's service.
Outside of Helen's professional pursuits, in the 1970s she became a member of the Kent Planning Commission and was instrumental in the development of Kent's recycling program. She was also chair of the Kent Environmental Council from 1992-94 when Haymaker Parkway was dedicated. Since that time, she was on the Portage Park District Foundation board, and she co-founded the Kent Choral Society. In 2010, she established a foundation for the education of girls in Cambodia called Women 4 Women Ohio, which has provided educational funds for over 40 girls in pursuit of high school and college education. Helen was awarded the Environmental Conservation Award for lifetime achievement in 2018 for "enriching the community through leadership and service."
In the last weeks of her very difficult battle with brain cancer, one of the hospice physicians said she was very unusual because of her futile though persistent attempts to fight the inevitable onset of her brain tumors. At that time, I recall saying to her hospice nurse that people often give the advice to just "go with the flow." Helen never took that advice in any of her life's challenges. She rather went against the flow. It was not the easy way, but for her it was the right way. I know from my long experience with her that her way was the right way, and though she is not with me now to once again take my hand, I have learned, as others have, to do what she would do: follow the correct path, not necessarily the easy one.
Helen is survived by me her husband, Stanford W. Gregory, Jr., our son Rogan S. Gregory, our daughter L. Tremaine Gregory, her sisters Phyllis Ann Tremaine and Mary Morris Tremaine Soutendijk, and three grandchildren: Graysen G. Gregory, Loe C. Gregory, and Kyro G. Schuring.
A memorial service will be held for Helen at 11AM on Saturday, February 2, 2019 in Kent, Ohio at Kent State University, Rockwell Hall, 515 Hilltop Dr.