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Mourners Salute “Saint” Dorothy “Mommie Helen” Pryor-Rose

Mommie Helen

Mommie Helen

BOTTOMLINE… Publisher’s Commentary By Wallace J. Allen

The passing of Dorothy Pryor Rose, known as “Mommie Helen,” was acknowledged on Tuesday at a lovefest disguised as a memorial service. The celebration of Dorothy’s life suggested that the sweetest thing at Mommie Helen’s Bakery, the celebrated home of peach cobblers, potato pies, red velvet cake and other “desert-heaven” items… That the sweetest thing was not the deserts, the sweetest thing was Dorothy Pryor-Rose herself, the Mommie Helen!
The recurring theme of the memorial service was “Dorothy was so very nice to me”… “Dorothy was the smile that never went away”… “Dorothy was the forgiver”… Dorothy was my inspiration” and on and on… But nothing I heard was as powerful as what I already knew.
You see, Ms. Dorothy had proven to be a member of the “Band of Angels” on the day that I first met her… The bakery had recently opened and we had completed our first meeting discussing advertising. I was leaving to meet my wife to take her for a very important Dr. Appointment, but my car would not start!  To make a long story short, despite just meeting me, Ms. Dorothy gave me the keys to her car saying, “Go take your wife to the doctor”!
She did not buy advertising from me, but Mommie Helen’s never really needed advertising because of the constant echoes from the screaming accolades and praise that apparently are caused each time someone bites into one of her cakes, cobblers or pies.
So though Mommie Helen’s Bakery will still produce cakes, cobblers and pies that will make you scream with joy, its sweetest item, Mrs. Dorothy Rose-Pryor, has moved on to a new heavenly address! All of us who knew her will miss her, because we will surely remember her.

In Memory of Culinary Pioneer, Dorothy Pryor Rose “Mommie Helen”

Mommie Helen

Mommie Helen

Re-edited by Naomi K. Bonman

SAN BERNARDINO, CA- On Sunday, January 24 the community lost another pioneer. Dorothy Pryor Rose, known to most as “Mommie Helen”, was the founder and namesake of The Original Mommie Helen’s Bakery. She was renowned by celebrities and locals for her pies and widespread friendship. She was 69-years-old.

A San Bernardino native, Rose was given the inherited the name Mommie Helen from her mother, Helen Williams, who opened the family-ran bakery in 2000 in Colton before it outgrew two locations before moving to San Bernardino in March 2015. Some of Mommie Helen’s renowned customers included Oprah and Shaquille O’Neal. O’Neal ordered 250 peach cobblers from the bakery for his wedding. Magic Johnson was also a customer.

“After “Mommie” had a major heart attack in 2003, she shifted to a consulting role and handed ownership to her daughter Tedra Rose, who kept the business open after her mom died Sunday. “She was — she is — a guardian angel, and she’d want someone to always be at the counter,” Tedra said.

A person of strong faith, Pryor Rose was always getting into long conversations with people she’d just met and helping them out whenever she could, although she rarely told others what she’d done, said Tedra Rose.

Scholarships, loans, free baked goods — it added up, Tedra Rose said. To make that charity a bit more organized, a foundation will be created in her name, she said.

Loved ones and community members paid tribute to Mommie Helen this past Tuesday, January 26 at Sunrise Church.

 

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