Helen Edith Rayson Eiserloh

Helen Edith Rayson Eiserloh has shuffled off this mortal coil and entered the Kingdom of Heaven. Angels: you are on notice. Watch out! (and guard the chocolate.)

Born on a date unspecified in Gonzales, she was the daughter of Jack Henry and Florence Zint Rayson.  Her father, a Londoner who emigrated to Texas in 1910; her mother, the daughter of frontier stock. Helen was a mix of her parents’ influences: prim and proper on occasion, but always filled with the spirit of the Wild West. 

She loved to tell a good story, especially about her youth in rural Texas: climbing a tree covered with poison ivy while being chased by a bull or galloping through Gonzales on a runaway mule with her two cousins Marilyn and Bryce Reid. Their grandfather, Martin Zint, would slowly drive his Buick back through town hauling three dust-covered kids and leading one very ornery mule!

During the Depression the family moved to San Antonio. Helen attended Alamo Heights when the entire school was located in Cambridge off Broadway. Soon after graduation she married Lawrence Anton Eiserloh. His mother, Lynden, was a well-known artist and she encouraged Helen’s interest in art

Immediately after WWII, Helen and Larry built their home in Alamo Heights where she lived until the time of her death. Labor and materials were scarce. They did much of the work with their own hands, exchanging rationed beer for labor and driving to small towns in search of building supplies.

Sadly, Helen became a widow at the age of 42 and never remarried. Needing a higher education to support herself and her family, she attended Incarnate Word College and earned a Master’s Degree.

Starting as a classroom teacher at Cambridge Elementary, she soon settled into her true vocation as an art teacher. Her legacy endures in the memories of all the children she taught as well as in the beautiful mosaic benches that still adorn the school. Kids: not to spoil the surprise, but the Cambridge Halloween witch was really Mrs. Eiserloh!

During the later part of her life Helen also developed a passion for travel.  Some of her fondest memories were of driving through Mexico with her best friend Jean Pace, aka the Thelma and Louise of the borderlands.

As the beloved “Gran,” Helen loved her grandchildren and was notorious for spoiling them. If ever a parent wondered who had given their five-year-old child a giant chocolate Easter bunny for breakfast, Gran was always the culprit.

She is survived by her children, Philip Eiserloh, Lynden Kosub and Laurie Eiserloh, grandchildren and great grandchildren. She was predeceased by her siblings Sybil Rayson Bolan and Dr. Jack Henry Rayson, Jr. A deepest gratitude goes to care providers Maria Pereida, Amalia Lopez, Crystal Serrano and Alamo Hospice.  

A public viewing will be held at Porter Loring on April 6 from 5- 7 p.m. A funeral service will be held at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church on April 7 at 11:30 a.m.  Charitable contributions may be made to Incarnate Word Fine Arts Center in her memory.