On November 17, 1926 a baby girl blessed Olzie Craven, Sr. and Ina Mae Holmes, in Porter, Oklahoma. They named her Helen Virginia Craven. She was the eldest of eight children born to Olzie, but the only child born to Ina Mae. Helen spent her early years living in Porter, and attended Mount Bethel Baptist Church in Red Bird, Oklahoma where she professed Christ at an early age. Helen moved in with her Maternal grandmother Mary Holmes in Tulsa when she was eight years old. Helen enjoyed returning to the country to spend the summers with her Paternal grandparents in Tullahassee, Oklahoma.

Helen attended Dunbar Elementary, Carver Junior High and was a member of the graduating class of 1944 from Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa. Shortly after graduation, Helen moved to South Dakota where she lived for several years before returning to make Tulsa her final home. In 1962, Helen met Willie Graves and they were united in marriage a short time thereafter. There union remained unbroken until the time of his death in December 2006.

Mrs. Graves had a passion for cooking. She made certain that no one ever left her home hungry. She would read a cookbook like most people read a novel, from cover to cover. Helen's next greatest love came later in life in the form of her grandchildren, whom she adored and was so proud of. On August 12, 2010, after a lengthy illness, Helen released her soul to Heaven's Open Arms. Several months prior, she re-dedicated her life to the Lord accepting Him as her personal Savior.

Helen was preceded in death by her husband of 44 years, Willie Graves, parents, and two brothers: Carlton Craven, and J.B. Craven. She leaves to cherish her memory and celebrated her homegoing: her only child: Heather Necol Daniels (Cordell), three grandchildren whom she treasured: Keith Daniels, Steven Daniels, Elyse Daniels, all of Tulsa, OK., four step-children: Willie Graves, Jr., Oklahoma City, OK., Taro Demond Mason, Atlanta, GA., Roy Tate, Tulsa, OK., and Pasty Ann Graves, Idabel, OK., two brothers: Olzie Craven Jr. (Sank) and Ray Craven, three sisters: Emma Mae Walters, Carolyn Vann, and Deborah Moss, four special cousins whom she was raised with and loved like her own siblings: Jerry Brown, Fort Washington, MD., Lawrence Brown, Kansas City, MO., Shirley Henderson, Rialto, CA., and Esther Mitchell, Lawton, OK., brother and sister in-laws who were just as much family as her very own: Eophus & Tammy Graves, Oklahoma, OK., Iophus & Linda Graves, Tulsa, OK., Mae Ophus & Danny Hall, Wyneewood, OK., along with a host of other relatives and friends.

II Corinthians 5
For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

A Memorial Service for Helen Virginia Graves is set for Saturday August 21, 2010 at 11AM inside our All Faiths Chapel in Tulsa.