Helen Margaret Chamness was born on July 21, 1893 in Heniffin County, Minnesota, U.S. She majored in education at Berkeley and met her husband, Chamness. On September 22, 1925, she was sent to Korea by the Overseas Missionary Association of the Northern Presbyterian Church and was appointed to the Daegu Missionary Branch.

On March 3, 1927, her daughter Barbara Chamness was born, but unfortunately, on June 4, she was called by God and buried in the Garden of Mercy at Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center.

Babara Chamness Tombstone of the Garden of Mercy at Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center

Helen served as an English teacher to students at a nursing school affiliated with Dongsan Christian Hospital. In addition, the Baby Welfare Clinic took care of many sick children, teaching them how to weigh infants, put them on the backs of mothers and sisters, donate powdered milk, and mix powdered milk.

She was expelled by the Japanese in 1941, returned after liberation, continued to serve as a missionary in Daegu, and resigned as a missionary in 1949 and returned home. The house they lived in is currently designated as Daegu Tangible Cultural Property No. 25 and preserved as a medical mission museum.

Helen was called by God on August 1, 1952, at her home in Greenbre, California, for lung cancer at the early age of 59. He was then buried in Sunset View Park Cemetery near Berkeley.

Daegu Tangible Cultural Property No. 25 Helen and Chamness Missionary Couple House

Helen Chamness tombstone