Helen Irene Webb
Helen Irene Webb
Helen Irene Webb was born December 18, 1932, in Kokomo, Indiana, to Brice and Minnie Mae (Lovejoy) Loop and died peacefully on February 7, 2026.
She was the last of her siblings to pass away. They were William Lowell Loop, Mary Louise Doty, James Paul Loop, and Iola Mae Hankins.
She lived most of her youth in Kokomo, Indiana, but from ages five through 11, she lived in Los Angeles, California, which was quite the adventure at that time. While there, her father worked in the shipyards in support of the war and her mother managed property for her aunts.
After returning from California, Helen accepted Jesus as her savior and was baptized at Southside Christian Church in Kokomo. She attended Kokomo High School and graduated in 1950. Academically gifted, she was one of five graduating students who received honors that year.
Upon graduation, Helen worked for six years as a secretary in the Haynes Stellite plant, which manufactured airplane parts primarily for the Korean conflict at that time.
During these years, she met her future husband, Carl Webb, and they married Sept 1, 1956, in Kokomo at the Church of Christ on South Main Street. After a brief time in Texas for Carl’s schooling and a brief return to Kokomo, they located in Indianapolis where Helen worked for the Indiana State Teachers Association, processing teachers’ pay schedules.
They had two sons: Thomas Elsworth Webb, born Jan 21, 1959; and Stephen Howe Webb, born Mar 13, 1961. Around the fall of 1959, Helen and Carl joined Englewood Christian Church where they would remain the rest of their lives. Helen was a circle leader and a deaconess, overseeing countless projects over the decades, including gathering Christmas gifts for the shut-ins, filling gift boxes for Samaritan’s Purse and for overseas soldiers, knitting and sewing hundreds of items for Riley Hospital, and much more. Helen began working at Englewood as a bookkeeper, a role that expanded into managing and investing church assets and undertaking other critical financial work.
Helen was an avid genealogist for more than 40 years, researching and writing about all branches of the Loop and Webb family trees. The Kokomo Public Library Genealogy & Local History Department gratefully accepted all of Helen’s genealogy work, noting its value for not only the families directly connected to the research but also for the important information it contains about the history of Kokomo and the surrounding areas.
Helen was a true artist with specialties in needlepoint, sewing, crocheting, and knitting. She was also known for her beautiful penmanship and taught cursive writing to many of her grandchildren.
In their retirement years, Helen and Carl enjoyed traveling and meeting up with family whenever and wherever they could. They were the leaders of the Webb Family Reunion for more than 50 years, keeping track of all the family’s addresses, weddings, and funerals, and organizing the yearly reunion, a huge affair that alternated locations between Kokomo and Burlington, Indiana, and Muskegon, Michigan. They were annual visitors to Port Washington, where Carl’s younger sister Roberta lived. They visited their son Tom, his wife Wenela, and their son Ian many times in San Francisco and took trips with them to Europe and to Wenela’s home country of the Philippines. Closer to home, they were the cherished grandparents to the children of their son Steve and his wife Diane, attending countless family gatherings and sports events for Charis, Barek, Asher, Teka, and Tsehai.
Helen was preceded in death by her husband Carl and her son Steve. She is survived by her son Tom, wife Wenela, and grandson Ian, of San Francisco. She is also survived by her daughter-in-law Diane Timmerman and grandchildren Charis (Brian Kaltenecker), Barek, Asher, Teka, Tsehai, and great-grandchildren Charlie, Bernadette, Juniper, and Bridget Kaltenecker. Bridget’s middle name is Irene in honor of her great-grandmother.
Friends are invited to visit with the family from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, February 10, 2026, at Englewood Christian Church, 57 N. Rural St., Indianapolis, IN 46201. A funeral service celebrating Helen’s life will begin 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the church, with Pastor Mike Bowling officiating. The church will be livestreaming the service by Zoom. Private burial will take place in New London Cemetery later. Contributions may be made in Helen’s memory to Englewood Christian Church. Stout & Son Funeral Home — Russiaville Chapel has been entrusted with arrangements. Messages of condolence may be left online at www.stoutandson.com.