Helen Susan Mayr; Funeral Home Co-Founder

Helen Susan Mayr, co-founder of Ted Mayr Funeral Home, died Sunday at her home in Ventura. She was 92.

She was born Helen Susan Rouse on Sept. 9, 1907, in Alhambra. Her father was a home builder and the family moved to Perris, Calif., where she grew up and attended school. Later the family moved to Thermal, Calif., and she graduated from Coachella Valley Union High School in 1925.

In 1928, she moved to Ventura and went to work as a switchboard operator for Shell Oil Co. She met Ted M. Mayr early in 1929, and the couple married Oct. 17 of that year.

At the time, Shell had a policy of not employing married women, so Mayr got a job at Associated Oil in Ventura, where her husband also worked.

They went into the funeral business in 1934. She continued to work for the oil company but she also spent many hours at the funeral home. In the early 1940s, she left the oil company and devoted her time to the family business.

She was a member of the First Methodist Church of Ventura for more than 60 years and a member of the Business and Professional Women’s Club from 1934 until it was disbanded in 1997. She was also a member of Eastern Star for more than 50 years, a member of Rotary Anns of Ventura and recipient of the Paul Harris Fellow Award.

She traveled to New Zealand, Australia, Alaska and the Caribbean and sailed on the Queen Elizabeth 2 from Los Angeles to England via the Panama Canal.

Ted Mayr died in 1976.

She is survived by a daughter, Beth Maland of Idyllwild; four grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. today and from noon to 8 p.m. Friday at Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura, which is handling the arrangements.

Services are scheduled at 1 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home with the Rev. Walt Dilg of the First Methodist Church officiating.

Entombment will follow at the Ivy Lawn Memorial Park in Ventura next to her husband.

Flowers may be sent to the funeral home, or memorial contributions may be made to the First Methodist Church in Ventura.