Helen Mills Stoll

Now ladies, even if you are the boss at home, let your partner lead.

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Helen had grace and grit, whether she was dancing or living life. Through the years, her love of dance was passed on to thousands of students by Helen and her husband, Norm, in their dance studio. That alone is remarkable. But even more remarkable is the good she did for others and how she taught them to live from their hearts—to see life as it could be. She reached for her dreams, and then with courage she defied corruption, making her neighborhood safe for her family and all who lived there. Even though a pimp attacked and beat her when she was in her 60s, that didn't stop Helen. For over thirty years, she never gave up trying to help prostitutes see that there was a different (and better) way to live. Later, in contentment, she would walk her chubby little cockapoo, Sammy, through the streets, knowing they were safe for her granddaughters and neighbors. She still taught dance at age 83 saying, "Who is going to teach the nice young couples their first dance?"

Helen was a professional dancer from the age of 17 and performed all over the Northwest in various theater stages, ballrooms, and other venues. It even brought her and her husband, Norman Stoll, together. He was handsome and tall. A couple of years after marrying, their son Wayne was born.

Together they founded the Norm Stoll School of Dance and Norm Stoll Enterprises. At times, they would have 20 instructors teaching dance in around Oregon and SW Washington. They worked like the devil—teaching dance, riding herd over teachers and running apartment buildings.

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At home, Helen watched with dismay as drug dealers, prostitutes and porn shops began taking over her beloved neighborhood, and she got fighting mad. For the next three decades, Helen fought to clean up the district. She would personally talk with prostitutes, asking them, "Would you rather do something else?" Norm and Helen got an office space and created an alternative group meeting place for these women. Here they could learn that there was a different life available to them. After Helen was attacked by a pimp, she didn't meet personally with the prostitutes, but she wrote letters, testified at hearings, and donated to women's shelters. She wrote and filmed a play about prostitution called "How Can Any Girl Do That?" shown on cable access.

Helen also gave long-standing service as an officer of her Hollywood Neighborhood Association and Boosters. The Oregon Association of American Mothers, Inc. honored Helen in 2004 with the Bertha Holt "Service to Children" Award.

After a courageous battle with stomach cancer, Helen passed away at the age of 84. She was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, neighbor, and friend to all who knew her.