Helen T. Burr, age 99, formerly of Interlaken, passed away on Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at Crest Manor Living and Rehab Center.

Born on June 24, 1911 in Pine City, New York, Mrs. Burr was the daughter of the late Charles and Theresa Haselbauer Tobey, the fifth child in a family of nine brothers and sisters. She was predeceased by her parents, five sisters, two brothers, and husband, Edward C. Burr, whom she married on June 26, 1937.

Aspiring to be a teacher of young children since her own young age of six, Mrs. Burr was educated in New York state schools, graduating from Geneseo State Teacher’s College in 1935 with a BS in Elementary Education, and from Cortland State Teachers College in 1959 with a MS degree, also in Elementary Education. Her teaching career began with grades one through eight in a one room schoolhouse on a corner of the family farm, and concluded with 32 years of service in the Interlaken school system, where she retired in 1973. Mrs. Burr was a kind, generous, and well-remembered teacher, on several occasions serving three generations in a single family. Many former pupils maintained an active friendship with her over the years.

Mrs. Burr was always interested and involved in community, fraternal, church, and volunteer service activities including Girl Scouts, Seneca County Community Chest, Interlaken Community Action, Reformed Church Group Ministries, and Youth Club. She was a lifetime member of PTA, the Order of the Eastern Stars #200, and the NYS Retired Teacher’s Association. Since 1956 until her death she was a member of the Interlaken Reformed Church. History, politics, and current affairs constituted Mrs. Burr’s lifetime reading and study. Her favorite leisure activities were sewing, watercolor painting, antique collecting, and baking special goodies for family and friends.

Mrs. Burr is survived by family members, William (Carol) Burr of Sevierville, TN, Carl (Monika Roth) Burr of Ithaca, Marilyn (Sam) Guarnieri of Fairport; five grandchildren; four great grandchildren; sister, Theresa Egan; nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews.

The family will be present to receive friends from 2:00 to 4:00 pm on Friday, June 24, 2011 in the reception room of the Interlaken Reformed Church. Please bring a story or fond memory of Helen to share with one another. For your comfort, light refreshments will be served.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks those who wish to make a contribution in Helen’s memory to kindly consider the Women’s Ministry at the Interlaken Reformed Church, PO Box 335, Interlaken, NY 14847.

In Romans 12, Paul writes of specific gifts given to each of us by the grace of God, exhorting us to recognize them and to utilize them to the fullest. Two such gifts so identified are teaching and encouraging. For her lifetime, until the day of her passing, Helen Tobey Burr was both a teacher and encourager of everyone with whom she came in contact.