Approximately two hundred co-workers, students and friends of Helen Orman, whose life tragically ended March 20 when she was shot and killed as she vacuumed her car at a local service station, met last week to celebrate their friend and reminisce about the many ways she touched each of their lives.

Held in the Houston Community College West Loop Center auditorium, the program–dubbed “Helen Orman: A Memoir” after her favorite form of literature– consisted of a reception where attendees visited and viewed a selection of Orman’s art placed on easels around the room and projected on a giant screen above the auditorium stage. Some of her favorite music played softly in the background.

After the reception, a video excerpt of an interview held last year with Orman concerning her art was shown on the screen, followed by an open mike session where individuals came forward and shared humorous and touching recollections and stories about their friendship with Orman.

A video excerpt highlighting her art and literature achievements completed the affair.

Each guest was given a printed program containing Orman’s photo and a short biography. The biography read as follows:

“Helen Orman’s life was fueled by two passions: art and literature. She worked for Houston Community College eighteen years as a teacher and Department Chair of Literature, Foreign Languages, Education and Philosophy at Southwest College. Fusing her lover of art and literature to teach students about Dante, she created a software tutorial that utilized her own images on the Inferno. Helen developed the first humanities course for HCC as well as a course in memoir-writing. During a faculty sabbatical, she created dozens of portraits of family, friends and literary artists. Her artwork has been shown in numerous exhibitions in Houston and around Texas. Helen served the college as Faculty Association President and chaired numerous other committees. She will be deeply missed by her HCC family.”

A reward of up to $35,000 is being offered for tips leading to the arrest and charges in Orman’s slaying. Anyone with information is asked to call the Houston Police Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 712-222-TIPS.