Helen Sara Roberts Katz

January 4, 1933 – March 10, 2021

Burial services for Helen Sara Roberts Katz, 88, of Ada are 1:00 p.m. Monday, March 15, 2021 at the Temple B'nai Israel Cemetery in Oklahoma City. Mrs. Katz passed away on March 10, 2021, at her home in Ada, Oklahoma.

Helen was the granddaughter of two early day Oklahoma families. Her maternal grandfather, Barnett "B" Wolf, an immigrant from Lithuania settled in Davis, Indian Territory, in 1898 where he established B Wolf Dry Goods and Clothing Store. Her paternal grandfather, Mike Roberts, an immigrant from Latvia, arrived in Tulsa in 1910. In 1914, he moved his family of five to Nowata, Oklahoma, and established Keystone Pipe and Supply, Co.

Helen was born on January 4, 1933, to Lillian Wolf Roberts and Myer Lesig Roberts of Nowata, Oklahoma. She was the second of their three children. Helen graduated from Nowata High School in 1950. She attended Lindenwood College for Women in St. Charles, Missouri, and after two years, transferred to the University of Oklahoma in Norman where she majored in Business Administration and was a member of Sigma Delta Tau Sorority. After completing her senior year, the tragic death of her father in a plane crash during the summer of 1954 changed her post college plans. She remained in Nowata to help with the family business and support her mother.

In 1958, after her brother Bernard returned to Nowata from the US Air Force to manage Keystone Pipe and Supply Co, Helen moved to Dallas, Texas. She was employed by a finance company as an IBM operator. In January 1964, Henry Katz – who knew Helen ten years earlier at OU - was in Dallas on a business trip and asked her to go out to dinner. After a brief courtship, Helen and Henry were married April 30, 1964, at Congregation B'nai Emunah in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They made their home in Ada, Oklahoma, where they reared their three daughters, Marsha, Beth, and Barbara.

Helen took pride in and doted on her family. Her children, their husbands, and grandchildren were the apple of her eye. She was masterful in the kitchen adding extra love to whatever she made.

She worked with Henry in their family business, Katz Department Store. Helen was active in bridge clubs and played tennis, loved music and playing the piano. She was a beautiful woman.

Helen is survived by her husband of nearly 57 years, Henry, and daughters, Marsha Katz Rothpan and her husband Jeff, Beth Katz Sherry and her husband Mike, Barbara Katz Cobin and her husband Todd, her 4 grandchildren, Drew and Shayna Cobin and Leah and Gabe Sherry along with her brother, Bernard and his wife Lil Roberts, her Aunt Rebecca Wolf Roosth and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Helen was preceded in death by her nephew Michael Myer Roberts in 1987, her sister Ethel Rae Roberts in 2010, her brother-in-law Alfred J Katz in 2014 and sister-in-law Bryna Katz Lane in 2021.

The family is incredibly grateful for the love and care provided by Mary Ann Jackson and Karry Cheadle over the last two years

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation or a charity of your choice.