Helen Lucille Hoy of Cedar Park, a lay preschool ministry leader for more than four decades, died Sept. 12. She was 98 years old. She was born in McGregor on Nov. 23, 1921, to Ernest and Tillie Brandes. In 1951, she and her husband Horace joined Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin. Eight years later, she became a preschool division director at the church enlisting and training teachers for Sunday School and Vacation Bible School for 29 years. Helen retired from the position in 1987 to attend Sunday School with her husband. When Hyde Park’s south educational building was completed, she served as director for a 4-year-old department for two and half years. In 1995, after her husband of 54 years died, she again found her place of service as greeter and secretary in the preschool. In all, she served 44 years in Hyde Park Baptist Church’s preschool ministry. She also led conferences for the Baptist General Convention of Texas related to Sunday school and Vacation Bible School. She served 13 years as co-director of Hyde Park’s Widowed Persons Support Group. She is survived by her brother Max Brandes of McGregor; daughter Kristy Fisher and her husband Dennis of Austin; daughter Judy Crooks and her husband Larry of Round Rock; four grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
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