Helen Brown Dance, a retired registered nurse who was the matriarch of a large family, died of congestive heart failure Dec. 21 at the Presbyterian Home of Maryland. She was 96 and had lived in Lutherville.
Born Helen Stephens Brown in Towson, she was the daughter of Hiram Weller Brown, a surveyor and Baltimore County sheriff, and Alverda Stephens, a homemaker. She spent her childhood in a home at 13 Allegheny Ave. in downtown Towson.
She was a 1935 graduate of Towson High School and earned a degree in nursing from Union Memorial Hospital in 1938. She nursed at Union Memorial Hospital during World War II and later at Easton Memorial Hospital in Easton. She lived on Kent Island from 1952 to 1957.
In 1940 she married Shearman S. Dance, a carpenter who became a farm manager. In 1960 they moved to a home on Norman Avenue in Lutherville where they lived for three decades.
Mrs. Dance had been involved in worship and education at the Central Presbyterian Church of Towson since 1949.
She was also a founding member of Forward Visions, an outreach organization focused on helping the disabled lead productive and independent lives.
Mrs. Dance was an accomplished knitter who made sweaters and gifts for family and friends.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Central Presbyterian Church, 7803 York Road.
Survivors include four sons, S. Scott Dance Jr. of Las Vegas, Nev., H. Stephens Dance of Jarrettsville, Thomas M. Dance of New Orleans, La., and Anderson W. Dance of Chase; a daughter, Martha H. Dance of Timonium; a sister, Lucile McLean of Parkville; 15 grandchildren; 32 great grandchildren; and three great great-grandchildren. Her husband of 52 years died in 1992.