By LINDA CHION KENNEY
linda@observernews.net
In reflections on her 10 decades of milestone moments, the recently departed Helen Mulrennan Young gave testament to resilience built on service and faith.
To some she is the “Mother of Kiwanis,” a service organization focused on youth, and to others, a tireless one-woman crochet ministry dedicated to lifting the lives of churchgoers, cancer warriors, newborns, brides, the homeless and more.
Young is the last sibling of a nine-member pioneering family, forever memorialized in the public school that
bears the Mulrennan name, in recognition of Bud Mulrennan, a famed citrus farmer. The Valrico school sits on a part of the 160 acres once owned by the Mulrennans.
Bud Mulrennan, in 1960, was a charter member of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Brandon, helping both Brandon and Riverview businesses grow. Young joined the club 40 years later, when her son, Jim Powell, served his first term as president. At one time the Brandon club launched a club in Riverview, which in turn folded back into the Brandon club, which continues to support Riverview area schools.
Young turned 103 on February 27 and died March 31. Prior to her internment at Hillsboro Memorial Gardens, Cornerstone Baptist Church members in Brandon hosted a celebration of life service. Rows of Kiwanians joined family, friends, churchgoers and more to bear witness to Young’s enduring impact.
“Helen is one in a million,” said Kiwanian Julie Knurek, at a dinner to honor Young’s 102nd birthday. “Her pioneer roots, that history is important to this club.”
In 2022, Young received the Spirit of Kiwanis Award, presented by then District 14 governor Karla Nielsen, at the Beef O’Brady’s in Apollo Beach. The award noted Young’s “gracious heart and positive spirit,” which “inspires us all to become better servant leaders and to live our highest and best lives.” Noted was a $1,000 donation her hand-crocheted Afghan blanket netted for the Kiwanis Foundation.
“That really touched me and brings me such joy,” Young said, “that my little hands could make something that could bring in that much money.”
In interviews through the years, Young shared her thoughts on life’s hardships and the power to endure.
“I believe the reason I have longevity is because I have kept my body active and involved my mind,” Young said, in a 2022 interview “It’s very gratifying to do things in the community and to know that you’re doing something to help others rather than just sitting home and doing nothing.”
“Helen is a true mentor into how to live a good life and give back,” said Kiwanian and Riverview resident Lynn Langowski.
“Helen’s story is all about good living, faith in God, faith in family and true love. She epitomizes all of that.”
Kiwanian Dustie Amatangelo agreed.“What can you say about mom, as she’s lovingly referred to here in the club. There isn’t a kinder person on earth.”
Living to 103 surely held its challenges, including the Great Depression and divorce and the demands expected of a single working mother. At age 9, Young survived a burst appendix, and in her later years, two bouts with cancer, including one that was diagnosed as she was caring for Elwood, her beloved second husband, who, blind and bed-ridden, battled Parkinson’s disease.
“Keep a positive attitude no matter how dark things might get at times,” Young said. “It’s not going to be that way forever. Keep the focus on other people. Think about them and be thankful and grateful for what you have. Keep a positive attitude no matter how dark things might get at times. It’s not going to be that way forever.”
In her final years, Young leaned on her faith even more, as pervasive arthritis became increasingly difficult to endure.
“God didn’t promise us everything was going to be a rose garden,” Young said, in an earlier interview. “I learned in my life that it takes going through those hard times, that’s how we’re able to endure and tolerate what we have to go through. That’s what makes better people out of us, that whatever happens is part of life and you have to make the most of it.”
