Helen Carolyn Dorothy Saegesser Church was the 1934 valedictorian of McKendree College, where she completed a triple major in English, French, and history. She married Leon Church (1906-1983) on June 13, 1936, and with her husband became the only three-time recipient of the McKendree College Peter Akers Alumni Award. She delivered the McKendree College Founders Day Address in 1963, served on the Lebanon public library board from 1969 to 1989, and earned an M.S. in library sciences from the University of Illinois in 1971. Her work included roles as a linotype operator, printer, writer, editor, teacher, and speaker, and she served as Illinois president of the National League of American Pen Women. Her memberships included PEO Sisterhood, NLAPW, Silver Pens, McKendree Writers' Association, Lebanon Historical Society, Lebanon Historical Society, Lebanon History Club, and International Dickens Fellowship.