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Harvey assisted her husband, former Lt. Gov. W. Brantley Harvey Jr., throughout his political career and still found time to raise five children, champion historic preservation in Beaufort, serve on the University of South Carolina's board of trustees and help start Lowcountry Real Estate. She tackled each task and met each accomplishment with grace and enthusiasm, family and friends said.
Harvey, 77, died Wednesday after a long battle with a rare neurological disease, family members said.
Even after falling ill about 10 years ago, losing her vision and suffering other side effects, Harvey remained active.
"You talk about someone who's led a remarkable life," said state Sen. Tom Davis, who works at Harvey and Battey, P.A., founded by the Harvey family. "The fact that she was such an active part of Beaufort, even in her failing health, is truly extraordinary. It makes you look at yourself and want to do better."
Harvey was born and raised in Darlington, the youngest of three children. She graduated magna cum laude with a degree in education from USC, where she was a varsity cheerleader and member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society and the Kappa Delta sorority.
Harvey received the McKissick Scholarship, awarded to a student whose future would likely include service to the state of South Carolina.
She met her future husband at USC, marrying Brantley Harvey Jr. in 1952. The couple moved to Beaufortthree years later, where her husband had grown up, and raised five children.
"She was a wonderful, accomplished lady," her husband said. "Helen really didn't know a stranger. She loved people and made my life very happy. ... You know the saying, it's good to be married to your best friend."
After moving to Beaufort, Helen Harvey began her career as a math teacher at Beaufort Junior High. She retired after her third child was born but continued to tutor high school students.
Among them was Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling, who said Harvey helped him with math and later served as a real estate mentor.
"She's a very, very special and dignified lady," Keyserling said. "I guess I'd say that in spite of her gentle Southern self, she was a pretty shrewd business person representing her clients and business transactions. ... She's just someone everyone in the community looked up to as a teacher, as a mother, as a political wife and probably most especially as a tenacious member of the University of South Carolina's board of trustees who worked tirelessly for the whole system and specifically to make sure Beaufort got its share of the pie."
Harvey was appointed to the board in 1991 and served until 2004. Herleadership was critical in the University of South Carolina Beaufort becoming a baccalaureate institution, Chancellor Jane Upshaw said in a statement.
In 1998, the Harveys donated $1 million to USCB, the keystone in community support that helped launch the university's Hilton Head Gateway campus, Upshaw said.
"Helen's commitment to this university has been an encouragement," Upshaw said. "Her life has set a challenging standard of community service for all of us in the USCB family."
Her husband served 16 years in the state House of Representatives, then was the state's lieutenant governor in the 1970s. He left politics in the late 1970s to return to his Beaufort law practice.
In 1986, Helen Harvey helped start Lowcountry Real Estate and worked there, selling residential and commercial property, until retiring in 1998.
Joan Fordham, one of the two other founders, described Helen Harvey as "bigger than life" and a wonderful friend and business partner who was always ready to help anyone in need.
"When we started, we just hoped we could keep the lights on," Fordham said. "We never dreamed we'd have this success story. She was the one who really made Lowcountry Real Estate a success -- who she was and what she contributed to the community."
Her involvement with historic preservation began in the late 1960s, when the John Mark Verdier House was ordered demolished, according to Historic Beaufort Foundation Board of Trustees chairman Pete Palmer.
Harvey was one of the driving forces behind saving the building, Palmer said, and also was instrumental in the creation of the foundation and securing downtown Beaufort's Historic District designation, Palmer said.
"She's really one of the great ladies of this town," Palmer said. "She cared and had the wherewithal to be supportive. It wasn't noisy, it was just done."
Helen Harvey served on numerous boards and commissions throughout her life, and in 2008 received the Rotary Bowl Award for community service.
She also was named S.C. Mother of the Year in 1999. She was a longtime, activemember of the First Presbyterian Church in Beaufort.
"She was a very special mother and grandmother," said Eileen Harvey Bakke, Helen Harvey's oldest child. "She set a high bar for us and expected a lot, but she was very fun. ... She was a woman of strong faith, and even during her illness, she knew that God loved her and had her in his hands."
