FAYETTEVILLE — Helen Marie (Fowler) Blackshire,

age 97, of Fayetteville, Ark., passed away Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020, in Springdale, Ark. She was born Feb. 5, 1923, in Maynard, Ark., to Demps and Myrtle (Cox) Fowler.

She was preceded in death by her husband John Blackshire and all five of her sisters and brothers.

She is survived by her daughter, Ann Blackshire and husband Don Weber, The Woodlands, Texas; son, John C. Blackshire Jr. and wife Susan Blackshire, Austin, Texas; granddaughter, Abigail Blackshire, Springfield Township, Mich.; grandson, John Blackshire, Denver, Colo.; granddaughter, Myra Fountain and husband Jeremiah Fountain, Marana, Ariz.; three great-grandsons, one great-granddaughter; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Helen graduated from Springdale High School in 1942 and attended the Fayetteville Business College before working in Fayetteville where she met her WWII Navy officer-in-training, John C. Blackshire, a native of Bellefonte, Ark. Helen and John were married in March 1945, and immediately moved to Boston, Mass., where John was stationed and Helen found her favorite job working in the Harvard Law School Library.

In 1950, John and Helen left Crossett, Ark., to move to Bellefonte where they worked with John’s parents, Plaut and Ella Blackshire, running their seed farm. After closing the Bellefonte business in 1956, John and Helen lived in Alabama and South Carolina where he worked as an engineer and she was a homemaker.

Helen was very happy to return to Fayetteville in 1977, when John started his CPA practice in Springdale. Helen was an intense gardener and enjoyed enlarging her gardens with a variety of plants she hoped would grow in her special Arkansas barnyard dirt. Her grandchildren say she had the best flowers and veggies ever.

There will be no memorial service at this time.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, 118 W. Johnson Ave., Springdale, Ark., 72764. Several items from Helen’s family have been donated to Shiloh Museum.

To place an online tribute, please visit www.mooresfuneralchapel.com.