Helen Lim Pannabecker passed away on May 29, 2023 in Tucson, Arizona after a two and one-half year battle with ovarian cancer. She is survived by her husband Thomas Pannabecker and daughter Kendra Pannabecker, and by several siblings and many nieces and nephews. She was born in Samarinda, Borneo to Chong An Lim and Wat Koey Kwee. Helen was the second youngest of six children: Pao Lim (Woodland Hills), Mei Lian Lim (deceased), Nancy Koerniawidjaja (deceased), Jane Budidharma (Toronto) and Rose Lim (St. Louis). She grew up primarily in the city of Malang on the island of Java, Indonesia. In later years the family moved to Jakarta.
Helen graduated from St. Louis University in Missouri with an undergraduate degree in business and subsequently proceeded to North Texas State University where she completed an MBA with a specialty in finance. Upon graduating she had a banking career with Chase Manhattan Bank working in Singapore, Viet Nam and Jakarta. After some years Helen moved to Germany where she briefly attended the University of Cologne and then immigrated to Toronto where she worked at The Toronto Dominion Bank for about a decade.
Helen met her husband Tom when he was a graduate student in 1983 at a Toronto Bicycling club potluck and they have been together ever since. The couple moved to Ithaca, New York where they lived for 9 years. During this period, Helen was employed by the Tompkins Community Bank and for several years operated a home daycare business. Passersby on Ellis Hollow Road would often see Helen and her troupe (along with her beloved Dalmatian, Sita) walking alongside the road visiting neighbors or exploring the nearby woods and fields. Helen and Tom moved to Tucson, Arizona in 1997 and Helen became a full-time Mom in 2003 upon adoption of Kendra who is a native of the province of Hunan, China.
Helen’s favorite long-time hobbies were gardening and cooking, always paying keen attention to the smallest details. Always ready to hike, bike, ski, skate, and paddle or sail…and travel to far-flung places. She was a member of the Tompkins County Quilters Guild in Ithaca and The Foothills Women’s Chorus in Tucson and choirs at St. Joseph’s and Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic churches in Tucson.
