Helen Morris Trulock Pettyjohn

June 3, 1947 – April 26, 2024

Helen Morris Trulock Pettyjohn,76, of Climax Georgia, saw Jesus face to face on Friday, April 26th, 2024, while surrounded by her loving family. The family will receive friends from 4:00 until 6:00 PM, Sunday, April 28th, 2024, at Cox-Ivey Funeral home. Online visitors may sign the guest register at www.coxiveyfuneralhome.com.

A service of Witness to the Resurrection will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, April 29, 2024, at First Presbyterian Church of Bainbridge, Georgia, with Dr. Gerald A. Little officiating.

How do you capture the life of someone you’ve loved for 63 years in an obituary?  Once upon a time…

Helen was born June 3, 1947, in Thomasville Georgia, the daughter of Paul H. Trulock Jr. and Margretta McGavock Trulock. She was raised and introduced to Jesus by Della McKelvin, a loyal and loved employee of the Trulock family for generations. When Helen was 7 days old, Thad’s mother, Gracie, looked down in Helen’s crib and said to her friend, Margretta, “This is the little girl that my son Thad will marry one day”. This later became true. Thad and Helen met in 1959 at a dance at Deanie Bolton’s house. The first words were “Would you like to dance?” At that predestined instant, Paul Anka began singing “You Are My Destiny”, and the rest is a history of love and affection. She was a graduate of Bainbridge High School, Class of 1965, and a 1969 graduate of Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education in Nashville TN.

Helen married her high school sweetheart, Thad Pettyjohn of Bainbridge, on July 29, 1967, in the First Presbyterian Church in Climax, Georgia. They celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary in 2023. She was a teacher in Bainbridge, Climax, and Whigham. She always said “I was a teacher, not an educator”. She was a member of The Bridge Club and the Five B’s Bridge Club. She and Thad enjoyed bridge cruises with their friend, Audrey Grant. She was a member of Climax Presbyterian Church which merged into First Presbyterian Church of Bainbridge, where she was an active member of the choir, Sunday school class, and was the premier “Cake Slicer” for the church.

She was always an encourager and lover of people. She loved “bunching up” with family and friends. Her favorite pastime was people meeting and “friend making”. Another passion was traveling the world with family and friends. She assisted Thad in over 30 years of travel with Jamison Bedding, as the “director of travel and entertainment”. Exploring the world with her family was her greatest joy. Helen unconditionally loved everyone, consequently, everyone loved her.

Survivors include her husband, William Thad Pettyjohn of Climax, two daughters Gretta (Johnny Smith) of Greenville, North Carolina, and Margaret (Trent Joy) of Navarre, Florida; two grandchildren, Mary Grace Smith and Elizabeth McGavock Smith; a step-grandson, Thomas Trent Joy (Abigail); her brother Robert McGavock Trulock (Anne Lambert Trulock); and numerous beloved nieces and nephews. Helen was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Paul Hines Trulock III.

Services for Mrs. Pettyjohn will be live streamed on the Facebook page of First Presbyterian Church, Bainbridge, Georgia.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to First Presbyterian Church, P. O. Box 7067, Bainbridge, Georgia 39818 or Friends of Jesus Ministry (Friendship House), P. O. Box 513, Bainbridge, Georgia  39818.

Cox-Ivey Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.