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Long time local Helen Alvarez dies at 87

Former Park City Council member Helen Alvarez
The Alvarez Family
Former Park City Council member Helen Alvarez in her garden in Oakley.

Helen Alvarez, who was known in Park City for decades as a city councilmember, a gardener and University of Utah professor, died Sept. 19 — she was 87.

Helen Alvarez and her husband Matt moved to Park City in 1965 and opened Park City’s first ski shop, The Timberhaus.

According to her son, Matias Alvarez, his parents were avid skiers, having grown up outside of Steamboat, Colorado.

Park City's first ski shop, the Timberhaus and the home of the Alvarez family in the 1960s.
The Alvarez Family
Park City's first ski shop, the Timberhaus and the home of the Alvarez family.

The Timberhaus was on Heber Avenue between Park Avenue and Main Street. Now, it’s O’Shucks White House.

The Alvarez family lived above the ski shop until they built a home on Rossi Hill in 1972, which they eventually sold 40 years later and moved to Oakley.

Helen grew up in a mining camp in Oak Creek, Colorado, the daughter of a coal miner. She was a hard worker and extremely intelligent, earning recognition as a Fullbright scholar.

Helen was a botanist by training and went on to get her PhD in genetic anthropology. She taught at the University of Utah for years. Park City Councilmember Tana Toly was one of her students.

Mary and Charlie Wintzer were long time neighbors. Mary Wintzer said Helen was simply the best.

“She was a phenomenal neighbor.” Mary said. “Helen's family was from Croatia, and Matt's family came from Spain, and they were multi-generational. They gave our kids such a great upbringing of what family is about. Up here on Rossi Hill, we had had just an amazing neighborhood where we all pitched in and helped each other, and we all shared topsoil. That was a big thing in our neighborhood. If somebody got a load of topsoil, everybody would come running. We all gardened. We all cooked from scratch.”

Three generations: Helen and her grandchild and great-grandmothers "Baba" (L) and "Lola" (R)
Three generations: Helen and her grandchild and great-grandmothers "Baba" (L) and "Lola" (R)

Helen served on the Park City Council for one term from 1980 to 1984. During that time, she and fellow Councilmember Tina Lewis were instrumental in moving the historic Miners Hospital from the base of the Park City ski area to its present location in City Park. At the time, Matias said City Park was just the rugby field. Helen worked to get a $1.5 million bond passed to expand the park to its current size.

One idea she tried to get through council, to the ire of local realtors, would have allowed only single-family homes and duplexes to be built in historic Old Town. The other stipulation; they must be inhabited by full-time residents. She failed.

Helen worked with the council to acquire the easement for Deer Valley Drive. At the time, it was just a dirt road leading to the base of Snow Park, Park City’s first ski resort and now Deer Valley.

Helen loved to garden. One of her landmark gardening projects even carried her name, Helen’s Hill. It’s the berm of property near the junction of Park Avenue and Kearns Boulevard.

Neighbor Charlie Wintzer said Helen had had enough of a dirt pile that had sat there too long.

Matt and Helen Alvarez in the kitchen preparing another holiday dinner.
The Alvarez Family
Matt and Helen Alvarez in the kitchen preparing another holiday dinner.

“Helen could not get anybody from the city to do anything with it, so she took it over and went out and leveled it, raked it, did all that stuff, and then planted the whole thing herself,” Charlie said. “She planted that thing, and it stayed there forever. They called it Helen’s Hill, and it was just her dedication to cleaning Park City up and trying to make it look better.”

Clippings from her home garden and raspberry patch can still be found growing throughout Summit County and in many Park City yards today, including mine.

Helen is survived by her two sons, their spouses and six grandchildren. Matias and Marko will be hosting a private event in her honor, as Helen would prefer.

Although Matt and Helen generously invited their sons’ friends and neighbors for years to nearly every holiday celebration, Matias said unlike his sociable and gregarious dad, his mother always preferred smaller intimate gatherings.