Helen MacKenzie Tyndall was born in Kirkudbright, Scotland on June 4, 1938 to William and Margaret (MacKenzie) Brannan. She immigrated with her husband, Ian Tyndall, to America in 1961 and settled in Vermont to raise their family, interspersed with sojourns to Ireland, Paris and Scotland.

Helen was a Montessori teacher (The Children’s School & Overlake Day School) and briefly taught Early Childhood Education at Champlain College. She loved children, animals, dancing, music and running. She had a great sense of humor, a sharp tongue and a colorful vocabulary.

She was charitable and had a soft spot for vulnerable people. For many years, she knitted hats for the King Street Youth Program and provided bananas every week, to the homeless. She was generous in her support for pet shelters.

Helen earned her Teaching Degree from the University of Dundee in Scotland. Following her divorce in the early 80’s, she moved down South where she earned a certificate in Montessori Education from the Montessori Teachers Association of Athens, Ga., taught in Beaufort, SC and Athens, GA before returning to her home on Shelburne Farms. She returned to the South in 2019, settling in Raleigh, NC, when Alzheimer’s Disease stole her independence.

She leaves her daughters, Fearna Tyndall and Rev. Rona Tyndall (Stephen Ludwick); grandchildren David Paul (Amy), Mari Moynihan (Noel) and Grace DiVerdi (Robert) and two great-grandbabies, Estelle and Lorenzo DiVierdi (Enzo was born on Helen’s 83rd birthday); sister Margaret Walker (Peter); her niece Kirsten Walker MacDonald and nephew Ker (Kathleen) and great nephew Finn MacDonald.

We are grateful for the kindness shown to Helen by Maggie Rollins and her team at Synergy Home Health Care, allowing Helen to stay in her home with her much-loved cat, Daisy, for many years, and for her kind caregivers at Addison of Knightdale.

A Service of Remembrance will be held at the Burlington Friends Meeting House in Vermont in May. In lieu of flowers, a donation to “Friends Concerns” c/o Burlington Friends Meeting, 173 North Prospect St., Burlington, Vt. 05401 for the support of the Abenaki nation and the Small Potatoes Soup Kitchen are most welcome.