Mary Farine Hebert

Helen Hebert, age 94, passed away on July 3, 2025 in Grapevine, Texas. She was born Mary Helen Farine on January 21, 1931, in Irving, TX to Arthur and Bertie Farine. The middle child of seven, she worked alongside her siblings picking vegetables on her family’s truck farm. The farm was part of a large tract of land homesteaded by Helen’s great-grandfather who emigrated from France in 1855 as part of the La Reunion Colony.

Life was hard during the Great Depression, and their home had no electricity or plumbing. Her mother made clothes for Helen and her four sisters from printed flour sacks. She had few toys or personal possessions, but enjoyed having a baby skunk named Jinx for a pet.

Helen had fond memories of attending grammar school in a one room schoolhouse where a pot-bellied stove provided winter warmth. After graduation, she received training at a business school and worked as a secretary for an insurance company

On January 22, 1950, Helen married Sterling Wesley Sexton in a double wedding ceremony with her younger sister, Bernice, and Wesley’s best friend. The couple built a home in Lake Worth, Texas where she lived for 67 years. She and Wesley were blessed with three children, five grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. Wesley passed away at age 58 in 1989.

Helen’s home, bordered by a forest and near a lake, fostered her life-long love for all varieties of wildlife including the many deer who would frequent her backyard. She was especially passionate about feeding hummingbirds and would feature them on her hand painted greeting cards.

ln the 1960s, she was inspired to write a column in her local newspaper titled, “Birds in Your Backyard.” Her talent for writing continued to be honed by the hundreds of poems she has written over the years covering a variety of topics. Many of these poems were a reflection of her deep faith.

On January 25, 2009, she married Joseph Hebert, a kind and caring Frenchman from Limerick, Maine. They enjoyed eight happy years together until his passing in July of 2017.

Helen’s staunch loyalty and zeal for all things Texan was surpassed only by her zeal for God’s Word. She began attending Worldwide Church of God in 1965 and remained a faithful member until her passing.

Helen was preceded in death by her parents, Arthur and Bertie Farine; her brother, Arthur (Buddy) Farine Jr.; sisters Barbara Howard, Edith Finley, Bernice Reasoner, and infant Elsie Lousie Farine; son Carey Sexton; great-grandson David Stein; and husbands Wesley Sexton and Joseph Hebert.

She is survived by her siblings, Albert Farine and Glorianne Coker; daughters, Melanie (Dan) Cartwright and Sharon (Fran) Scherich; daughter-in-law Janis Sexton; grandchildren: Sage (Sonny) Sehmi, Vince Sexton, Crystal Cartwright, Tiffany (Jason) Stein, and Tamara (Derek) Royer; and great-grandchildren: Heston Sehmi, Viggo Sehmi, Sia Sehmi, Evelyn Royer, Faith Royer, and Emma Ruth Stein.