Dec 18, 2017

Helen Murdock Meighen passed peacefully to her eternal home Sunday, December 17, 2017, at the age of 100.

She will be lovingly remembered and greatly missed by her three daughters and sons-in-law, Nancy and Jack Biel, Mary and Ross Carnes and Helen Marie and Steve Ullestad, as well as eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

Deceased are her husband of 55 years, James B. Meighen, and her son, John Murdock Meighen.

She was born March 15, 1917, on her parents’ farm near Waynesburg in Greene County, the only child of Arleigh Jacob Murdock and Goldie Zimmerman Murdock.

Mrs. Meighen attended a one-room country school through eighth grade and graduated in 1934 from Waynesburg High School. She studied piano for many years, a talent she shared with others throughout her life. She graduated in 1938 with a degree in painting and design from Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh. During that time, she became a member of Associated Artists of Pittsburgh and had paintings exhibited at Carnegie Museum of Art.

Following graduation, she worked at Perry Photography Studio in Pittsburgh, where she tinted photographs. She then worked for Bell Telephone Co. doing lettering and layout for directory advertising.

Mrs. Meighen and Jim were married in 1944 and moved to Monongahela, where they raised their four children. They were active members of United Methodist Church, Monongahela. Mrs. Meighen also enjoyed many clubs and activities, including Mother’s Club, Bridge Club, Daughters of the American Revolution and AARP.

In 2004, after the death of her husband, she moved to Seabrook Retirement Community on Hilton Head Island, S.C., where she flourished for the next 13 years.

A lifelong Methodist, Mrs. Meighen attended Sunday school and church faithfully throughout her life. While living on Hilton Head, she was a member of St. Andrew-by-the-Sea United Methodist Church.

She charmed everyone she met with her soft-spoken humor, warmth and kindness. Her ability to play piano by memory well into her nineties continually amazed people. She will be missed by many who remember her humble, gentle spirit and ever-ready smile. She was a role model for her family and lived a life that exemplified the love of Christ. She entered the loving arms of Jesus surrounded by her devoted family.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, December 20, in Fordyce United Methodist Church, the church she attended as a child. Interment will be in Greene County Memorial Park, Morgan Township.

Memorial donations may be made to United Methodist Committee on Relief, Advance GCFA, P.O. Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068, or at www.umcor.org.

Friends and family are invited to visit Mrs. Meighen’s memorial page at memorial.yourtribute.com/Helen-Meighen.

Arrangements are entrusted to Milliken and Throckmorton Funeral Home Inc., Daryl L. Throckmorton, owner/director, 197 North Maiden Street, Waynesburg.

Additional information is available at www.milliken-throckmortonfh.com.