Helen Long Hilderman

Helen Long Hilderman died at Hock Family Pavilion on July 30, 2026, following a brief illness. She was surrounded by family and friends. She was one day shy of her 103rd birthday.

Helen was born in Danville, VA, to Walter Carrington Hilderman, Sr. and Myrtle Fleurette Long Hilderman. She had two older siblings, Walter Carrington Hilderman Jr. and Catherine Elizabeth Hilderman (Sosensky). The family moved to Southern Pines, NC in 1936, where her parents opened a boarding house called Pine Cone Lodge. She attended public school, and graduated after 11 years, as that was what they offered in Southern Pines in the 1930s.

Helen attended The Woman's College of The University of North Carolina, in Greensboro, NC (now UNCG), graduating in 1944. Originally majoring in piano, she switched to chemistry because she did not like the piano teacher.

After college, Helen worked at Bowman Grey Hospital, and later lived in St. Louis, MO, where she and her sister Catherine shared an apartment. She returned to Durham in 1958, where she worked in the lipids lab at the VA for 30 years. She frequently stated, with pride, that she had been retired significantly longer than she worked!

Helen was a well-loved member of Trinity Avenue Presbyterian Church in Durham, NC, having joined in the late 1950’s. It was her spiritual home, and she loved being a member there.

Helen had been a member of The Pilot Club in Durham (a women’s service organization). She was a career-long member of the National Association of Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) regularly chairing the annual Alzheimer’s Fundraiser.

Throughout her life, Helen was joyful and loved to engage almost anyone in conversation. She was eternally curious about life, the world around her, and other people. She was warm, loving, and principled. If she disagreed with something you were saying, she would not waste much breath arguing. She would just appear to be listening, and simply not respond.

She was predeceased by her parents, her brother Walter Carrington Hilderman Jr, her sister Catherine Elizabeth Hilderman Sosensky, and her nephews Walter Carrington Hilderman III and John Harvey Hilderman.

She is survived by her nieces, Ann Hilderman Clark and Jennifer Sosensky (David Dreifus), her great niece Christine Hilderman Carper (Michael Carper), her great nephew Walter Carrinton Hilderman IV (Katie), and five great great nieces and nephews.

Donations in her memory can be made to The Hock Family Pavilion Inpatient Hospice Center, Trinity Avenue Presbyterian Church, or the Alzheimer’s Association.