Helen Mae Ream Bateman
1920-2021
Provo, UT – Helen Mae Ream Bateman passed away peacefully at her home on June 6, 2021, moving from this world into the waiting arms of her beloved husband, James LaVar. She died on his birthday, which must have been the best reunion gift either of them could have hoped for. She was 101 years old.
Helen lived each of her years with passion, inspiration, creativity and grace. For all of us, she was an incredible example of how to experience beauty and adventure in life. Helen believed she could move mountains. She lived to the fullest every day. She was adored by her loving family and friends from around the world. Nana, as she was affectionately known by her 18 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren, was a shining light of energy and joy for everyone who knew her. She will be remembered for her kindness, spirited spirit, stunning smile and the mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Last year, at the age of 100, Nana wrote: “I love to sit, applique and quilt while listening to music or watching a musical. My beautiful green room reminds me of LaVar and our honeymoon in tropical paradise.”
Nana was born in a log cabin in Dingle, Idaho in 1920 to a large, loving family. The reams were tough and of pioneering quality. Her father was entitled “Strongest Man in the West” and her mother was “fifty-five, with blue eyes,” the beauty of the city. In her early years, Helen loved family fun, trips to Bear Lake, pets, cooking, hunting, and candy dragging. She loved adventure and said, “I love getting out of the routine. I find the same thing deadly.”
Nana loved telling stories and we loved listening to them. Here is one. In the rugged Idaho hills, she sometimes saw coyotes and wolves, and imagined what a mountain lion would do if he jumped on her and her horse Bud. One day while riding, she dug her fingernails into the horse’s flank and screamed like a lion. Bud apparently didn’t like surprises and wildly rejected them. When her brother finally found the petrified horse and returned and asked Helen why she would ever do something so careless, she replied, “I don’t know, I was just tempted.”
She learned to be resourceful at a young age and her skills continued throughout her life. “If you can buy it in the store, you can do it at home,” she often said. And she did. Her hand-dipped chocolates, meat pies, elaborate wedding cakes, her hand-chiseled stone house, her hand-sewn ball gowns and hundreds of embroidered quilts testify to her creative ability.
She married Navy Lieutenant James LaVar Bateman and they made a great team. They complemented each other seamlessly – yin and yang, fire and ice, roots and wings. They ended up having five extraordinary children: Kim, Shauna, Kathleen, Cindy, and Kyle. Each added immeasurable wealth to the family. Creative in many ways, Helen always said her children were her ultimate masterpiece.
Nana lived her life as a teacher. She taught publicly at Montpelier High, Provo High and BYU – also as a missionary, book author and within her family. From their self-built oasis in Provo, the Batemans also traveled and lived around the world. They lived in Wisconsin, Washington DC, Cuba, the Virgin Islands, Michigan, Guam, Maryland, Australia, Vietnam, and Hawaii. The couple also led many BYU study trips to places like Mexico and Europe and eventually became directors of BYU’s London study abroad program. The Batemans also loved traveling to the USA and abroad with their families, mostly packed in different Volkswagen campers.
Helen and LaVar were exemplary humanists. They loved helping people. They have had countless callings in the LDS Church, have been active in the Rotary Club and other civic organizations, and have helped sponsor many refugees or students from different countries such as Cambodia and Vietnam. Helen and LaVar may have set a world record for most LDS missions. You led the Church’s Public Affairs Office in Sydney, were the first missionaries to go to Hanoi, served 10 years in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and served another mission in Laie, Hawaii. After LaVar’s death, Nana returned to Hawaii for four more missions at the Polynesian Cultural Center to help people and embroider quilts. She coincidentally tailored these missions to match the Hawaiian weather during the Utah winters.
Nana’s death feels like the end of an incredible era. At 101, she is outlived by a few of her generation. She kept the family together until the end. Their children Kim (Linda), (Rick), Kathleen (Steve), Cindy (Peggy) and Kyle (Julee) as well as their grandchildren and great-grandchildren will all miss Nana, but will be comforted by her words: “When I have finished my job , I am really looking forward to seeing my family again on my next trip. ” Her beloved LaVar and beautiful daughter Shauna preceded her in death, as did her parents and siblings: Jean, Lane, Mary Ida and Hazel Dawn.
A funeral service for family and close friends was held in South Jordan Cemetery at 10630 S. 1055 W. on Thursday, June 10 at 10 a.m., followed by an open house at Helen’s home at 1212 Ash Avenue in Provo .
Expressions of condolences can be sent to the family at www.premierfuneral.com. Helen would like to know that you have made a humanitarian donation on her behalf.
Published by Deseret News from June 8th to June 11th, 2021.
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