HELGA ROA SOMMERS
1935-2017
Our beloved mother and grandmother was taken far too soon the early morning of Sunday, October 29, 2017. Following an unexpected cardiac event, Helga passed away peacefully surrounded by loving family and friends at Memorial Hermann Hospital, Memorial City. She was predeceased in March of this year by the love of her life Richard Sommers, and has now joined in heaven her mother Lina Berta Jakob, her father Erwin Oskar Jakob, and her younger brother Bimbo Jakob. She is survived by her son Michael Andreas Roa and his wife Veronica of Houston and Ingrid Roa Wynne and her husband Michael, also of Houston, her five grandchildren, Christian Roa, Michael Roa, Jr., Anthony Roa, Alex Ritchmond, and Paulina Wynne, all of Houston, and her brother Rolf Erwin Jakob and countless other loving relatives in her home country of Germany. She is also survived by Nancy Sommers Richards of League City and her husband Ronnie; Ron Sommers of Houston and his wife Kathy; Kathy Sommers Brennock of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, and her husband Dan; and Carole Sommers Ryan, of Lake Elsinore, California, and her husband Bert, and Earlene Sommers Elliott of Knoxville, Tennessee, as well as all their children and grandchildren, who she loved as her own.
Helga was born in Ludwigsburg, Germany, December 5, 1935. As a very young girl, she stoically survived World War II, spending much of the time hiding in her family’s basement. She came alone to the United States knowing no English and built a life that was not so much for herself as for her family. She taught herself the language and the accounting profession and was a working, single mom and hero to both of her children. At an early age, she instilled in them the concept of hard work and love for the life she had built for them in America while never forgetting her family in Germany. During their marriage, Helga and Richard travelled the world, often visiting her beloved brother and family in Germany. They loved to cruise the ocean and meet new friends from around the globe.
Words fail to express what Helga meant to so many whose lives she impacted and shaped. Life for her family and friends will not be the same without her and her unwavering example of loving dedication. She created here an ever-extending family that will always deeply cherish and remember her deeply in our hearts. She was also an active volunteer in our community and made it one of her missions to help other new arrivals to our country to feel welcome and to build lives in the United States.
Services will be held on Friday, November 3, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. at the Second Baptist Chapel, located on Second Baptist’s Woodway Campus, 6400 Woodway Drive, Houston, Texas, Dr. Ben Young officiating with a life-honoring reception to follow in Parlor B of the main church. In place of flowers, it was Helga’s wish that donations be made to the Houston SPCA.