Helen "Tankie" "Madea" Shelley

Service for Ms. Helen "Tankie" "Madea" Shelley of Marlin will be held on Saturday, March 14, 2020 at 1:00 P.M., First Baptist Church Marlin, Texas. Burial will follow at Washington Cemetery. 

On October 12, 1928 a blessed event took place. Mr. Zack Shelley and Mrs. A.D. Shelley were blessed with a baby girl, they named Helen. Many called her Tankie.

Helen accepted the Lord as her personal Savior at an early age. She joined St. Paul Baptist Church and was baptized. She was a faithful member until her death. Helen attended school in Reagan, TX.

She grew up in the Big Creek Community and later moved to Marlin, TX.

Helen worked 35 years in the nursing homes as a patient care technician and in private homes also. Everyone wanted Helen to take care of their loved ones, they knew they would be in good hands.

She was the mother of eleven children. Helen’s parents, one daughter, one son, two sisters, and three brothers proceeded her in death. God saw she was getting tired. He said you have done all the things I asked of you. You have clothed people, visited the sick, fed the hungry, gave water to the thirsty, and gave people shelter. Now it is your time to take your rest.

Helen leaves to cherish her memories daughters Annie Bledsoe and Evelyn Davis of Marlin, TX, Jacqueline Smith (Billy) of Killeen, TX, Sons Charles Shelley (Kathy)  of Duncanville, TX, Bruce Shelley of Mexia, TX, Roosevelt Shelley and Jimmy Shelley of Marlin, TX, Kenneth Shelley of Dallas, TX, Robert (Andrea) Shelley of Mesquite, TX.  Sisters Shirley Washington and Burea Shelley of Dallas, TX, Brothers Zack Shelley, Jr. and Rev. C.T. (Eloise) Shelley of Dallas, TX, Sister-In-Law Lucille Shelley of Benbrook, TX. One Aunt Caroline Edwards, many she called her children, Odell and Annie Grant, Roderick Willis, Joyce and Trevor Fields, Aaron Shelley, Billy Smith, Jr. , Eugene Smith, Mrs. Christine Young’s children, Kenneth Evans, David and Marie Tiller, Jessie Anderson, and a host of 35 grandchildren,   70 great-grandchildren, and 14 great-great grandchildren. Our Sunday dinner will be no more, the kitchen is closed, all good things must come to an end. Rickleman Street will never be the same.

Special thanks to Michelle Petty, Baylor Scott & White Hospice, Sylvia McGee, LaJean Henderson for what you have done for our mother. We thank you and God is good.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Helen "Tankie" "Madea" Shelley, please visit our floral store.