Helen Louise Minnick; Realtor

Helen Louise Minnick, a Realtor in the Antelope Valley for 16 years, has died in Lancaster. She was 71.

Mrs. Minnick, a resident of Quartz Hill, began selling houses in Lancaster and Palmdale in 1974, and in 1977 was named Realtor Associate of the Year by the Antelope Valley Board of Realtors.

She died Monday of pneumonia, said her husband, Harold (Hal) Minnick.

Mrs. Minnick was born Nov. 30, 1918, in Dallas. She came to California when she was an infant and graduated from Hollywood High School in 1936.

From the late 1950s to the early 1960s, Mrs. Minnick and her husband traveled the country making documentaries and commercials for local businesses, which sometimes involved risks. While filming at Lake Powell in southern Utah, Mrs. Minnick had to be strapped to an airplane seat while the plane flew perpendicular to the ground to provide her with a better camera angle.

She began selling real estate in 1972 in Orange County. In the early 1980s, she was an ambassador for the Antelope Valley Chamber of Commerce. She held her Realtor’s license until her death.

She is survived by her husband of 40 years; a daughter, Maureen McGuire of Lancaster; six grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

Visitation is scheduled from 4 to 8 tonight at Halley-Olsen Funeral Chapel, 44802 N. Date Ave. in Lancaster, which is handling the arrangements. A funeral is planned for 2 p.m. Thursday at the funeral chapel, with burial to follow at the Joshua Memorial Park in Lancaster. Donations can be made in Mrs. Minnick’s name to the American Cancer Society in Lancaster.