Dates

• Existence: 1923-

Biographical History

Helen Spencer Schlie (1923- ) is a bookstore and art gallery owner in Mesa, Arizona, and is mostly known for owning a first-edition copy of the Book of Mormon.

Helen Spencer Schlie was born August 24, 1923, in Deford, Michigan, to Elvin Spencer and Blanche Danforth. She was the oldest of seven children, having five sisters and one brother. In 1940 she married Alvin Wagner, with whom she had a daughter, Alnita. The couple divorced soon after her birth. During World War II, Helen worked for a drill and tool company in Detroit, and later for General Motors inspecting Army trucks. Helen owned several businesses after the war, including a clothing store, a bakery, and a millinery shop. She married Walt Schlie, a World War I veteran, in 1955. Helen joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1961 while living in Michigan; Walt was baptized five years later. Prior to joining the Church, Helen directed a Presbyterian church choir for 15 years. Walt and Helen later moved to Mesa, Arizona, where they opened a bookstore near the LDS Mesa Arizona Temple in 1965; they ran the store until 1990. They acquired a first-edition copy of the Book of Mormon, which they allowed visitors to the bookstore to view. Helen later sold individual pages of the book. Helen also wrote and published poetry throughout her life. Helen reopened her bookstore in 2011, and it remained open until 2014.

Citation:

Ancestry.com, via WWW, March 30, 2017 (Helen Elaine Spencer and Alvin Herman Wagner; m. September 22, 1940)

The Beehive, via WWW, March 30, 2017 (Helen Spencer Schlie; bookstore closing; age 90)

East Valley Tribune, via WWW, March 30, 2017 (Helen Spencer Schlie; age 90)

AZCentral.com, via WWW, March 30, 2017 (Helen Spencer Schlie; 1779 hymnal)

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