Helen Dorothy Bredar

Helen Dorothy ""Do"" Bredar, 93, mother and homemaker, passed away on July 20th after a decade-long battle with vascular dementia. Mrs. Bredar served as a docent at the Denver Art Museum for more than 30 years where she played a role in the art education of thousands of Denver area school children. Art, education and a taste for adventure defined later chapters of her life which started in rural Iowa. Helen Dorothy Kelleher was born in Des Moines, Iowa on February 7th, 1924, and grew up on a farm in Madison County, the county later made famous by a novel and film about its famous covered bridges. Her family arrived early in Iowa territory and later the state acknowledged them as one of Iowa's pioneer families. In the depths of the Great Depression, at the age of 12, in the span of just a few months, both her father and her older sister died. She, her mother and five siblings - aged 4 to 14 - were left to run a struggling farm, a challenge that would come to define the rest of their lives. Eleven years later, she was a 1947 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Iowa. After graduating, she moved to Ames, Iowa where she co-founded a new chapter of her sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, at Iowa State College. It was there, on a blind date, that she met her future husband, William L. Bredar of Davenport, Iowa. She put a degree in Romance Languages to work in the translations department at John Deere and Company in Moline, Illinois. In October of 1949, she married Mr. Bredar, by then a civil engineer. For the next 35 years, her focus was on raising five children. Through moves from Iowa to Nebraska and, in 1957, to Colorado, she and her husband of 67 years, Bill, touched on an archetypically American ideal, raising children who became doctors, a federal judge, a scientist and a filmmaker. She shared with them a deep and broad curiosity about people, politics and art and imbued in each an appreciation for education and inquiry. She was a long-time volunteer for the Institute of International Education, serving as a local host and guide for international guests of the United States Department of State. Flying as co-pilot for her pilot husband and five children became a fixture of her married life, logging thousands of hours in a small plane. In the process she visited all the states in the lower 48, Alaska, Canada, Mexico and the Bahamas. After moving from the mid-west, she became an avid skier and had a lifelong love of the Colorado mountains. Mrs. Bredar survived with her dementia for over 10 years, and her intrinsic good nature, friendly disposition, and sheer doggedness in the face of disability was an inspiration to her family, friends, and caregivers. She never lost her sense of humor nor her positive disposition, endearing her to her caretakers until her last day. Helen Bredar is survived by her husband, Bill, a daughter, Dr. Nancy Bredar of Ardsley, NY, sons William Bredar, Jr. of Anchorage, AK, the Hon. James Bredar of Baltimore, MD, Dr. Dan Bredar, of Denver, and John Bredar of Boston, MA, as well as one son-in-law, four daughters-in-law, and 14 grandchildren. A rosary will be held on Wednesday evening, July 26th at 7 pm at the Horan & McConaty Family Chapel, 1091 S. Colorado Boulevard (at Mississippi) Denver. A Funeral Mass will be held at Christ the King Roman Catholic Church, 8th Avenue and Fairfax Street at 10 AM on Thursday, July 27th. The Mass will be followed by a reception at Ballard Hall next to Christ the King Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be considered for Christ the King Church, 830 Elm St., Denver 80220 or the Denver Art Museum,100 W. 14th Ave. Parkway, Denver 80204 in memory of Do Bredar. Please share memories of Do and condolences with her family in the Guestbook.