Helen Jue was born Helen Gee on June 29, 1926 in the small Northern California town of Susanville. The Great Depression just 3 years later prompted her family’s move back to China, where they lived in Hoisan, and later moved to Xin Hui.

Life in China was turbulent, first because of the on-going civil war between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party, but then later with the Japanese invasion of China and subsequent eruption of World War II. Helen was just 15 when she and two young sisters managed to board the last passenger ship sailing from China to the U.S. until after WWII.

Helen married George Jue and had five children. A fiercely dedicated mother, grandmother and great grandmother, and an accomplished businesswoman, she worked tirelessly until suffering a devasting stroke in 2010. She lived comfortably with 24 hour care before passing peacefully on December 23, 2023.