In Loving Error

The Bellweather Ledger

Obituaries — Thursday, October 17

HELEN MARIE VOSS, 68

Helen Marie Voss, sixty-eight, of Bellweather, died peacefully at home on Tuesday following a brief illness.

Born January 9, 1956, to Walter and Marian Pryce, Helen devoted thirty-two years to the Bellweather Central School District, where she served as a guidance counselor and, to many students, a second mother. She believed no child should be defined by the worst thing that had happened to them, or by the worst thing they had done.

Helen was preceded in death by her husband, Peter Voss, who died in 2019. She is survived by her daughter, Leah Voss, of Cleveland, and by a son, Daniel, born in 1977 and relinquished for adoption, whose absence remained the central grief of her life.

Helen also survived a suicide attempt in the winter of 1981, an experience she concealed out of shame but later credited with deepening her compassion for others.

Among Peter’s personal effects after his death, Helen found a note in his wallet that read: You have always been better at living with what happened than I have. She kept the note in the blue bowl beside her bed.

In accordance with her wishes, there will be no service.

To R., wherever you are: I believed silence was the kinder thing. I understand now that it was only the easier thing.

The Bellweather Ledger

Correction — Friday, October 18

An obituary published Thursday for Helen Marie Voss was submitted by an unauthorized party.

Mrs. Voss is alive.

The Ledger regrets the error and any distress caused to Mrs. Voss, her family, and the community.

BELLWEATHER POLICE DEPARTMENT

INCIDENT REPORT 24-18477

Public Narrative

Complainant: Voss, Helen Marie

Date reported: October 18

Nature of complaint:

Harassment / Identity misuse

Mrs. Voss appeared at the front desk at approximately 9:20 a.m. carrying a copy of the October 17 edition of the Bellweather Ledger. She was visibly distressed but declined medical assistance.

Mrs. Voss stated she had learned of the obituary after receiving multiple telephone calls asking whether she was dead. She denied submitting the notice or authorizing anyone to submit it.

Mrs. Voss identified several details in the obituary as private and accurate:

The existence of a male child placed for adoption in 1977.

A self-harm incident occurring in January 1981.

A handwritten note formerly kept in her late husband’s wallet.

The location of said note after his death.

Mrs. Voss stated that only her daughter, Leah Voss, possessed knowledge of all four details.

When asked whether another person might know the identity of “R.,” Mrs. Voss stated there was no person identified by that initial and described the final paragraph as “a theatrical invention.”

Mrs. Voss requested that officers arrest her daughter.

The reporting officer advised that further investigation was required.

PUBLIC FACEBOOK POST

Helen Pryce Voss

October 18, 11:43 a.m.

I am alive.

Since the newspaper has so far declined to name the person responsible, I will.

My daughter, Leah, has been angry with me for several years. Those close to us know I have tried to respect her need for distance, even when that distance was painful and, at times, punitive.

There are private matters in the obituary that Leah learned during vulnerable conversations between mother and daughter. Publishing them was an act of calculated cruelty.

Please do not contact me for details. Please do not send the obituary. I have seen it.

To my former students who have reached out: thank you. The person described in that notice is not me, but the kindness you remember is.

Comments have been limited by the author.

PUBLIC FACEBOOK POST

Leah Voss

October 18, 3:06 p.m.

I did not write my mother’s obituary.

I did not submit it.

I have spoken to the Bellweather Police Department and given them access to my phone, email, and travel records.

I learned about my half brother when I was fourteen because my mother told me during an argument that having one child taken from her had taught her not to become too attached to another.

I learned about the suicide attempt because she told my high school principal I was “reenacting a family tendency” after I had a panic attack in the girls’ bathroom.

I saw my father’s note because she showed it to me repeatedly after he died and asked me to explain what he meant.

There are many ways to make private information public.

Writing an obituary is only one of them.

The Bellweather Ledger

October 20

FALSE OBITUARY REOPENS OLD QUESTIONS ABOUT BELOVED SCHOOL COUNSELOR

By Martin Seay, Staff Writer

A false obituary for retired Bellweather guidance counselor Helen Voss has prompted a police investigation and renewed discussion of her decades-long career at Bellweather Central High School.

Voss, sixty-eight, has publicly accused her daughter, Leah, of submitting the obituary. Leah Voss denies involvement.

According to Ledger publisher Anne Kern, the notice was submitted through the newspaper’s online memorial portal. The sender provided a valid billing address, paid the publication fee, and confirmed the text by telephone.

Kern declined to release identifying information, citing the ongoing investigation.

Helen Voss worked at Bellweather Central from 1987 until 2019. Former students responding to news of her apparent death described her as perceptive, generous, and unusually willing to listen.

“She remembered what was happening at home even when you wished she didn’t,” said former student Marnie Cole. “For some of us, that mattered.”

Others contacted by the Ledger described counseling sessions they found emotiinally difficult to remember.

One former student, who requested anonymity, said Voss discouraged her from reporting an allegation against a family member during the student’s sophomore year.

“She told me memory could be contaminated by anger,” the former student said. “By the end of the meeting, I was apologizing for wasting her time.”

The Bellweather Central School District released a statement praising Voss’s years of service and stating it had no record of formal disciplinary action against her.

COMMENTS ON LEDGER FACEBOOK POST

Selected from 286 public comments

Marnie Cole: This is disgusting. Mrs. Voss saved lives. Literally.

Brent Halper: The article says no disciplinary record. Maybe don’t smear a woman because somebody with “difficult memories” wants attention.

June_E: Not having a record means nobody made one.

Marnie Cole: Or it means there was nothing to report.

Tessa Lang: She helped me understand that something I thought happened when I was little probably didn’t. I was grateful for years. I’m not sure what I am now.

Brent Halper: Here we go.

Tessa Lang: You don’t know what I’m referring to.

June_E: Was the initial R?

Tessa Lang: I didn’t say that.

Marnie Cole: Please stop turning this into true crime. A real person is being harassed.

Tessa Lang: So was I.

This comment is no longer available.

COUNTY OF BELLWEATHER

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS

VOSS v. BELLWEATHER LEDGER MEDIA GROUP

Complaint filed October 25

Plaintiff Helen M. Voss brings this action for defamation, invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent publication.

Plaintiff alleges:

Defendant published a false report of Plaintiff’s death.

Defendant failed to authenticate the identity of the submitting party.

Defendant published confidential medical and family information.

Defendant’s negligence caused Plaintiff severe emotional distress, reputational injury, unwanted public attention, and renewed contact from unstable former students.

Defendant subsequently compounded the harm by publishing speculative allegations concerning Plaintiff’s professional conduct.

Plaintiff seeks compensatory and punitive damages, disclosure of the submitter’s identity, and removal of all references to the obituary from Defendant’s website and digital archives.

DEFENDANT’S ANSWER AND AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES

Filed November 4

Defendant admits publication of the obituary and subsequent correction.

Defendant denies that the obituary was accepted without authentication.

Defendant states:

The obituary was submitted using the email address helen.voss56@gmail.com.

The billing address matched Plaintiff’s home address.

Payment was made using a debit card bearing Plaintiff’s name.

The online submission originated from an internet connection registered to Plaintiff’s residence.

A confirmation call was placed to the telephone number provided in the submission.

A woman answering that number identified herself as Leah Voss and approved publication.

Defendant lacks knowledge sufficient to determine whether the woman was, in fact, Leah Voss.

Defendant denies liability.

EXHIBIT B

Affidavit of Marjorie Pell, Obituary Clerk

Publicly filed November 4

I have worked in classified advertising and memorial notices for nineteen years.

On October 15, I called the telephone number included with the Voss submission because the final paragraph appeared unusual for an obituary.

A woman answered.

I asked if I was speaking to Leah Voss. She said yes.

I asked whether the sentence addressed to “R.” should remain. She said it was the only reason the obituary had been submitted.

I asked whether “R.” was aware Helen Voss had died.

The woman said, “She will be.”

I understood the pronoun to refer to R.

The woman was calm. I did not perceive the call as a prank.

After the false obituary was reported, police played me a brief recording of Leah Voss’s voice. I was unable to determine whether she was the woman I spoke to.

I was later played a recording of Helen Voss. I was also unable to make that determination.

Their voices are similar.

r/Bellweather

Posted by u/DeadLetterOffice

November 5

The Helen Voss obituary complaint is public now, and nobody is talking about the weirdest part.

Everyone is focused on the IP address and debit card, which obviously make it look like Helen submitted her own obituary.

But the clerk’s affidavit says the caller identified herself as Leah before approving the paragraph to R.

Possibilities:

Leah did it and covered her tracks badly.

Helen did it and impersonated Leah.

Someone inside Helen’s house did it.

The newspaper is lying to protect itself.

Helen intended to publish the obituary later and accidentally submitted it early.

Last one sounds ridiculous until you remember people prewrite obits.

The line that matters is: “She will be.”

Who is R?

Top Comments

u/BuffaloStatic: Retired counselor. Could be a former student.

u/CourthouseMouse: There’s an old school board packet from 2004 with a parent complaint against “H.V.” Most of it is blacked out because the student was a minor. Parent’s last name starts with R.

u/DeadLetterOffice: Link?

u/CourthouseMouse: District archive, April 2004 packet, page 71.

u/HallPass1989: Don’t do this. I went to Bellweather Central. She convinced kids they had misunderstood things that happened to them. Sometimes maybe they had. Sometimes I don’t think so.

u/MarnieC: You people are taking comments from traumatized teenagers thirty years later and building a monster because it’s entertaining.

u/HallPass1989: I wasn’t a teenager when she called me in 2021 and asked whether I still “needed my version.”

u/MarnieC: Why would she call you after retirement?

u/HallPass1989: That’s what I asked.

u/HallPass1989 has deleted their account.

BELLWEATHER CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

BOARD OF EDUCATION PUBLIC SESSION PACKET

April 12, 2004

Page 71

Agenda Item 14-C: Parent Correspondence

Letter received from Patricia Rowe regarding student counseling records and alleged failure to report.

Matter reviewed by district counsel.

No action recommended.

Supporting materials withheld pursuant to student privacy law.

Handwritten notation beside item in scanned copy:

P. Rowe withdrew complaint 4/8. Student recanted. H.V. requests file destruction. DENIED.

BELLWEATHER POLICE DEPARTMENT

SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT 24-18477

Public Narrative

On November 7, detectives conducted a voluntary interview with Helen Voss at her residence.

Mrs. Voss acknowledged familiarity with Patricia Rowe but denied counseling Rowe’s daughter, Rebecca, outside standard school protocols.

When asked whether Rebecca Rowe was the “R.” named in the obituary, Mrs. Voss stated, “Not consciously.”

Detective requested clarification.

Mrs. Voss stated she had been taking prescription sleep medication and had recently experienced episodes of automatic behavior, including sending messages she did not remember composing.

Mrs. Voss then stated that her daughter had pressured her to accept responsibility for the obituary in exchange for “ending the spectacle.”

Mrs. Voss declined to surrender her computer for forensic examination without a warrant.

During the interview, Mrs. Voss produced the blue ceramic bowl referenced in the obituary. The bowl was located on a dresser beside her bed.

The bowl was empty.

Mrs. Voss stated that Peter Voss’s note had disappeared after Leah’s most recent visit in May.

Leah Voss provided documentation showing she stayed at a hotel during that visit and did not enter the residence.

Investigation remains open.

PUBLIC FACEBOOK POST

Helen Pryce Voss

November 8, 2:14 a.m.

I have spent my life helping frightened people separate what happened from what fear added afterward.

There is no cruelty in asking for accuracy.

There is no crime in refusing to confirm a memory merely because it causes pain.

My daughter knows this. Others have chosen to forget it.

I did not write the obituary.

The apology to R. was not mine.

I do not know why it sounds like me.

PUBLIC FACEBOOK POST

Leah Voss

November 8, 9:32 a.m.

My mother called me last night.

She admitted writing it.

She said she wanted to know who would be relieved.

I will not be making further statements.

BELLWEATHER POLICE DEPARTMENT

CALL LOG SUMMARY

Released pursuant to public records request

November 7, 11:48 p.m. Outgoing call from telephone registered to Helen Voss.

Number called: Leah Voss.

Duration: 18 minutes, 42 seconds.

No recording available.

VOSS v. BELLWEATHER LEDGER MEDIA GROUP

NOTICE OF VOLUNTARY DISMISSAL

Filed November 12

Plaintiff Helen M. Voss hereby dismisses the above-captioned action without prejudice.

No reason stated.

The Bellweather Ledger

Correction — November 14

A correction published October 18 stated that an obituary for Helen Marie Voss had been submitted by an unauthorized party.

Information made public in subsequent court proceedings has called that characterization into question.

Mrs. Voss has dismissed her lawsuit against the Ledger. No individual has been charged in connection with the obituary.

At the request of the Voss family, no further clarification will be issued.

r/Bellweather

Posted by u/DeadLetterOffice

November 15

Helen Voss update: Rebecca Rowe died in 2006

Found an archived death notice. Rebecca Rowe was twenty-six. No cause listed.

I also found a cached version of Helen’s original obituary page from before the Ledger removed it.

The text is the same except for one line.

The version printed in the paper says:

To R., wherever you are: I believed silence was the kinder thing.

The cached version says:

To R., wherever I left you: I believed silence was the kinder thing.

Could be a typo. Could be somebody edited it after submission.

I emailed the Ledger. No response.

Comment by u/CourthouseMouse

The court exhibit includes the submitted text.

It says wherever you are.

Comment by u/DeadLetterOffice

Then where did the other version come from?

Comment by u/HelenVoss56

You are still assuming the obituary was written for the dead.

Moderator Notice

This account was verified through an email address belonging to Helen M. Voss.

Comment by u/DeadLetterOffice

Mrs. Voss?

Comment by u/HelenVoss56

No.

The Bellweather Ledger

Obituaries — Sunday, November 17

HELEN MARIE VOSS

The family of Helen Marie Voss requests privacy at this time.

Previous notices concerning Mrs. Voss should not be relied upon.

No additional information is available.