Irvin, Helen Deiss

Helen Davenport Deiss Irvin, formerly of Lexington, Ky., died on Monday, June 8, 2015, at age 86 at the Warm Hearth Nursing Center in Blacksburg, Va. The daughter of E.A. and Ruth Davenport Deiss of Lexington, she graduated from the University of Kentucky, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, president of Delta Delta Delta sorority, and editor-in-chief of the Kentucky Kernel.

She was a reporter for the Lexington Leader and a former member of Junior League of Lexington. She received a Ph.D. from UK and taught for 11 years at Transylvania University, where she chaired the division of humanities. She was state president of the American Association of University Professors and a member of the state board of the American Civil Liberties Union. She later graduated from Harvard Law School and practiced in Washington, D.C., until she was 83.

She loved animals, books, and sports. She is survived by two sons, John Granville Irvin Jr. of Lexington, and Andrew Halliday Irvin of Blacksburg, Va.; four grandchildren, Alison Irvin Wols of New York City, John G. Irvin III of New Orleans, Captain Grayson Irvin of Parris Island, S.C., and Alexandra Halliday Irvin of Atlanta; and a great-grandchild, Lucy Ellender Wols. She was predeceased by her brother, Dr. Andrew Deiss.