Dickens, Helen Scott
Helen Catherine Scott Dickens of Radford, Virginia passed into eternal life with our glorious Savior on June 1, 2026, surrounded by loving family. Helen was born in Stuart, Virginia to Donald Hobart Scott and Nellie Kate Gray on August 8, 1934. She was preceded in death by her husband, Luther Isaac Dickens, her sister Nellie Melba Scott Cornwell, and her brothers Donald Hobart Scott, Jr., James Reginald Scott, Warren Gray Scott, and Harold Eugene Scott.
She is survived by her children, Donald Allen Dickens (Sherry), Heidi Elizabeth Dickens (Jason), and Stephen Luther Dickens (Teresa); her grandchildren, Catherine Scott Bernard, Trayanna Dickens Whiting, Elizabeth Gray Walker, Patricia Cheryl Lutes, Allen Trahin Dickens, Thomas Luther Dickens, Gabriella Teresa Dickens Lazares, and Stephanie Scott Dickens; and her great-grandchildren, Amelia Mae Lutes, Macauley Whiting IV, Major Gray Walker, Helen Coraline Whiting, Olivia Dawn Lutes, Karolina Karri Lutes, Scott Adriaan Trahin Dickens, Elouisa Antoinette Dickens, and William Nicholas Lazares II. Her tenth great-grandchild is due in July 2026.
She is both survived and preceded by her many beloved nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, great-grandnieces and great-grandnephews, dear cousins, and in-laws.
Helen grew up on the idyllic Homeplace farm in Patrick County, where she inherited and developed her extraordinary green thumb, and love of family, Jesus, and cats. She graduated with honors from Stuart High School in 1952 and studied Secretarial Science at Averett College in Danville, Virginia. She married Luther on August 29, 1953, at the First Baptist Church of Stuart. They resided in Hillsville, Virginia, welcoming their first child Donnie in 1954 and Luther being drafted soon after. Helen joined Luther in Heidelberg, Germany, returning to deliver their second child Heidi in Stuart. Following the military posting, Helen and her family moved to Richmond, Virginia where their third child Stephen arrived, and she also worked as a secretary for insurance companies.
Helen and her family moved to 310 Third Street in Radford in 1959 and joined the First Baptist Church, where she was a member of the Choir and served on numerous church committees. Her angelic voice and piano playing were a joy to all around her. Her garden was enormous and productive, and she was dedicated to canning and preserving the fruits of her labors. She enjoyed frequent traveling to see her family, as well as sightseeing and experiences across the United States and globe – by car, train, plane, and RV. She was a loyal Jeep driver for decades, and never without a toolbox in the back. She loved the family retreat in Floyd County that they acquired in 1974, Misty Hollow, hosting everything from campfires to Thanksgiving to anniversary parties to fishing and hiking and blackberry picking with the grandkids. She was a champion catfish catcher and endlessly competent in all manner of Appalachian farm and forest traditions. She was a grand hostess whose annual Christmas party launched the career of the famous Gregory Brothers, and who cultivated bright, interesting human beings from all backgrounds and with accomplishments ranging from musical and literary to technological and political. She met with presidents and governors and farmers and students and charmed them all.
She graduated with honors from Radford University in 1983, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish with a minor in Business Administration and attending a language institute in Guatemala. She was an invaluable asset as Luther’s plastics company, RADVA Corporation, became a global corporation with subsidiaries operating in Russia and the Pacific. She hosted countless international colleagues and students as RADVA and Thermasteel continued to grow around the world and organized cultural exchanges like the Virginia tour with gifted Russian elementary students performing around the commonwealth. In 1999, she endowed the Mr. Luther & Mrs. Helen Dickens International Scholarship for Radford University students with global studies.
In 1984, she founded a commercial real estate development and property management corporation, Chuckatuck Partnership, and redeveloped and managed the historic Central Depot building for residential, office, and retail use. The project, which preserved for adaptive reuse the 1891 hotel from Radford’s earliest days as the central train stop between Lynchburg and Bristol, served as a cornerstone of West End Radford revitalization. She also founded Radford JazzFest, held in the building’s courtyard.
She served as a board member of the Radford Chamber of Commerce, American Heart Association, Radford Main Street Program, Virginia Baptist Foundation, and the Community Foundation of the New River Valley.
Helen – Mom, Mima, Grandmommy, Aunt Helen, Gigi – was brilliant, witty, full of grace, dedicated, accomplished, loving, fiery, welcoming, elegant, deeply reflective, and kind to many. Her worldview incorporated the best of cosmopolitanism and appreciation of the diversity of the human experience, along with a deep commitment to values of faith, family, honest labor, and good works. She made the world a better place with her presence.
Memorial services will be held on Thursday, June 4, 2026, at First Baptist Church of Radford. Visitation 11am – 12pm; funeral service 12pm – 1pm. Luncheon to follow.
“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” 2 Timothy 4:7
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28
The Dickens family is in the care of Mullins Funeral Home & Crematory in Radford, Virginia.
www.mullinsfuneralhome.com
