Helen Peery

A Mass of Christian Burial for Helen Beatrice Monahan Peery, 96, of Nacogdoches will be held at 2:00pm on Friday, November 21, 2025 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church.  Interment will follow at Douglass Cemetery.  Visitation will be held from 5-7pm on Thursday, November 20, 2025 at Laird Funeral Home.  A rosary will begin at 6:00pm.  

Helen Beatrice Monahan Peery, 96, passed away on Sunday, November 16, 2025, surrounded by family.

She was born on September 22, 1929 to Edward and Katherine Herklotz Monahan in Leavenworth, Kansas.  She was one of 15 children.  She was raised on a farm in Easton, Kansas and spent much of her youth caring for her younger siblings. 

Just after 8th grade, she moved to Denver, Colorado to live with her Aunt Beatrice.  It was at her first job selling pillows at the Greyhound Bus station where she met a handsome bus driver, Douglas Wayne Peery.  They were soon engaged and later married on September 30, 1953.  They had 7 children together.

Helen was very passionate about fashion design and sewing. She was a very gifted seamstress and spent many hours making clothing for all her children but especially her two daughters.

A devoted Catholic throughout her life, she faithfully attended Sacred Heart Catholic Church of Nacogdoches.

Above all else, family was the center of world.  Her happiest days were those spent with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, each of whom she loved with her whole heart.  Her presence made every moment brighter, and her legacy lives on in the generations she nurtured.

Helen is survived by her 6 children:  Doug (Leigh), David (Tonia – predeceased), Daniel (Jan), Dennis (Brandy), Dianne Peery Raydon (Ron), and Dean (Misty); 12 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.  She is also survived by her siblings: Chuck Monahan (Kate), Carol Morris, Sharon Farr (Jimmy), and Marquerite Rizzo, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Edward and Katherine Monahan; husband, Douglas Wayne Peery; daughter, Debra Jean Peery; and siblings, Edward Monahan, Mary Spinner, Julia Vallandingham, Dorothy Wilson, James Monahan, Michael Monahan, and Charlotte Shelton.

Feisty and quick-witted, Helen had a sharp mind and sense of humor until the very end.  Her strength was quiet but undeniable.

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