Helen M. Hoover was always happy to celebrate and share her family history in Butler County. She was a direct descendent of Capt. John McCollough, who was among the first settlers of the county in the late 1700s.

"She was extremely proud of her heritage," said her daughter, Mary Phaneuf, of Sarasota, Fla.

Mrs. Hoover, of the Good Samaritan Hospice at Concordia Lutheran Ministries in Winfield, and formerly of Chicora, died Friday at the age of 88.

Born in Butler, Mrs. Hoover was the fourth generation of McColloughs to live in Butler County.

As a girl, she enjoyed attending McCollough family reunions in Chicora, on an old family homestead consisting of 500 acres that was once owned and farmed by Capt. McCollough himself. The reunions were attended by a thousand descendants who were eager to celebrate the family's rich history. Ms. Phaneuf said it was a joy her mother shared with her and her siblings, who also continued to attend the reunions well into their adult years.

"I'm not sure they still hold them," Ms. Phaneuf said. "But there are a lot of McColloughs out there who are still farming."

Mrs. Hoover's ancestors were involved in the War of 1812, the Whiskey Rebellion and started the first English Lutheran Church in Butler. They also were responsible for helping to start the first schoolhouse in the Chicora area, called the McCollough School.

While living in Butler, Mrs. Hoover worked for the Butler County Agricultural Agency, and the former Jay Shoppe in Butler. She also managed her own sales consultants for Fashion Two Twenty Cosmetics in Butler.

Mrs. Hoover loved music. She played the piano, the flute and later in life, learned to play the organ. She belonged to a group called the Pedal Pushers Club.

"They were organists and they'd go around to different events and play, and sometimes they'd just play for each other in their homes," Ms. Phaneuf said. "She loved music, all kinds -- jazz, blues, anything."

It is a passion she passed on to her children. Ms. Phaneuf said she and her sister learned to play on their mother's 1930s Selmer flute.

Mrs. Hoover also enjoyed quilting. The family has one of her quilts in storage that Mrs. Hoover had discussed donating to the Butler County Historical Society.

"It's never been used, and it's magnificent," Ms. Phaneuf said.

Mrs. McCullough was a member of the First English Lutheran Church in Chicora.

She also was a member of Butler Memorial Hospital's ladies auxiliary and volunteered as the jewelry buyer for the Cherry Tree Gift Shop.

In addition to her daughter, she is survived by a son, David H. Frazer, of Chicora; three other daughters: Marjorie S. Broderick, of Forest Hills; , Carol L. Frazer, of Carnegie, and Susan Matthews, of Pittsburgh; eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Also surviving is a sister, Jean R. Dornon, of the Passavant Retirement Village in Zelienople.

She was preceded in death by a brother and two grandchildren.

Services for Mrs. Hoover were held Tuesday morning at the Thompson-Miller Funeral Home, Butler. Burial followed in the Hillview Cemetery, Chicora.