Helga Ruth Lamb

Helga Ruth Lamb passed away on August 3, 2017 after being diagnosed with a stage four cancer a month earlier. She was born in Bad Frankenhausen, Germany, on October 7, 1944. Her father, Theodor Poppel, was an engineer with Wernher von Braun's rocket team. After the end of WWII, the Poppel family moved to El Paso, Texas, as part of Operation Paperclip, a special act of Congress that relocated 120 rocket specialists to the United States. In 1950, the family moved to Huntsville, Alabama, when Theodor was assigned to Redstone Arsenal to work with the US Army on missile development. Since his position included responsibilities at Cape Canaveral (later Kennedy Space Center), Helga made numerous trips to Cocoa Beach as a child. She attended Huntsville public schools and the University of Alabama. Helga married Vince Lamb on July 17, 1965 in Huntsville where Vince worked for a NASA contractor. In 1966, they moved to Fort Lauderdale with their infant daughter Liz. In January 1970, they relocated to Indialantic before building their dream house on Dragon Point where they lived for 43 years. She enjoyed being a homemaker and gardener. She loved natural beauty in wild areas as well as close to home on Dragon Point, where she spent hours watching dolphins, pelicans, ospreys, manatees, otters and more. She never lost interest in America's space program, watching many rocket launches from the beach. Helga was a longtime member of the Space Coast Orchid Society. Helga enjoyed life with family and friends, with roles including mother, grandmother, wife and daughter. She devoted much of her last decade to assisting her mother, Ruth Poppel, who passed away two years ago. She provided immeasurable support to her husband Vince first during his business career and later as a naturalist and conservation advocate. In recent years, Helga was happy to have her daughter Liz and grandson Shaw living nearby. Survivors include her husband, Vince Lamb, daughter, Liz Lamb, sister, Gerda Murphy, grandson, Shaw Frederick, brother-in-law, Frank Lamb plus her relatives in Germany and four white cats. Donations in her memory are welcomed to the Friends of the Carr Refuge (www.carrrefuge.org), Florida Wildlife Hospital (www.floridawildlifehospital.org), St. Johns Riverkeeper (www.stjohnsriverkeeper.org) and Brevard Zoo (www.brevardzoo.org)¬¬. A private celebration of her life for family and close friends will be held in October.