Service in loving memory of Mrs. Gilbert will be celebrated Saturday, January 20, 2024, 11:00 a. m. at the Mt. Olive Baptist Church, 303 Brown Street, Winnfield, LA 71483.  The casketed remains will lie in state at the church from 10:00 a. m. to 10:45 a. m.  Burial will follow in the Choctaw Island Baptist Church Cemetery near Clarence in Natchitoches Parish.

Helen Bell Gilbert was born December 28, 1940 in Clarence, Louisiana to Joe and Ina Mae Gilbert. Helen was the second born of seven maternal siblings including five brothers and one sister.

Helen graduated from Pinecrest High School in 1962. Helen worked as a custodian at Winnfield Middle School for over twenty years. To know Ms. Helen was to truly love her, as she would open her home to anyone. On January 11, 2024 at St. Luke's Sugar Land Hospital, God called his daughter Helen Bell Gilbert home.

Helen was preceded in death by her children Demetris Hollingsworth, Martha Wilson (Jerel) and Sherman Gilbert (Wanda); parents Joe and Ina Mae Gilbert; Grandmother Leola Weston; five brothers, Edgar Lee Gilbert, Charles Ray Bryant Sr., O'Neill Gilbert Sr, Stafford Moses Sr. and Sherman Gilbert Sr., Moses Gilbert and sister Shirley Gilbert.

Helen's memories will be cherished by her three children; Nicole Gilbert, Jacqueline Hollingsworth, and Anthony Thomas (Hayley); nineteen grandchildren, forty-one great grandchildren, one great great grandchild; sister Linda Faye Pierce (Ken), brothers Paul Gilbert, Olin Gilbert (Minnie), Melvin Gilbert and a host of nieces, nephews, relatives, and friends.