HELENA DUBOSE

 

Helena Joyce Dubose of Okemos, Michigan was the first African American womanin

Lansing Michigan to obtain a permit to construct a FM radio station in the tri-

country area. She served as owner, president and general manager of both WQHH 

96.5 FM and WXLA 1180 AM radio stations from 1984 until her retirement 20 years 

later. She nurtured the creating and development of the radio stations to support a 

new urban contemporary format for the tri-country area. Both stations proved to be 

a career catalyst for communication students at Michigan State University and 

 

Lansing Community College. Additionally, the stations served to communicate 

important cultural and civic information while entertaining the tri-country area 

with a diverse radio format. The radio statoon’s ongoing and enduring ability to 

facilitate the education of students, communicate cultural and civic events, while 

still entertaining the public is something that gave her pride. 

Prior to her ownership of the radio stations, 1981-1986, she honed business and 

entrepreneurial skills as co-owner and manager of two Rapid Photos and at the 

Pennsylvania Avenue Meijer in Lansing. These were the first one-hour photo labs in the Lansing area. Mrs. Dubose was an entrepreneur who took very calculated risk. 

 

Being a business owner and manager was a second fever for Mrs. Dubose. It was as a nurse, that she developed her leadership skills. Graduating with a baccalaureate degree in nursing from Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana, she began her career in 1958-1960, serving our nation’s veterans by working for the United States Veterans Hospital.

 

 

 

                                   

 

Upon moving to Lansing Michigan with her husband, Cullen Dubose, she was an instructor with Mercy School of Nursin in Lansing. Rising in the 

Nursing School, she reached the position of Associate Director before leaving to 

pursue other opportunities. From 1969-1979, Mrs. Dubose was a clinical nurse 

supervisor with the Michigan Department of Civil Service, Health Screening Unit; 

Health Occupation Coordinator for the Ingham Intermediate School district and a 

nurse with the Michigan Department of Public Health, Division of Health 

Maintenance Organizations. During the early stages of development of HMOs, Mrs. 

Dubose used her entrepreneurial spirit to facilitate the development of quality 

health operations. 

 

Mrs. Dubose is a member of Trinty African Methodist Episcopal Church and trustee 

emeritus. For 54 years she has been married to Cullen Dubose, a Real Estate 

Developer and Entrepreneur. They have three children, Cheri Dubose Reid, two sons Cullen II and Freddie Dubose; a son-in-law Al Reid and a daughter-in-law Briana Dubose.  They are proud grandparents of Ariel and Christopher Reid and Aaron and Erika Dubose. 

 

Mrs. Dubose gives her time, talent and resources to the community. She maintains a very active schedule through a number of professional and civic organizations: Chi Eta Phi Nursing Sorority, The Links Incorporated, Lansing/East Lansing Chapter, 

NAACP, UNCF, and Zonta Club of Lansing. Mrs. Dubose’s dedication has received the YWCA’s Diana Award, the Lansing Black Lawyers Association Honoree, Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce Small Business Award, NAACP President’s Award, and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Citizen of the Year Award. 

 

While being business manager, in each professional position and in community 

service, Mrs. Dubose has been a role model for women. Early in her career she has 

demonstrated to young nurses that women can hold leadership positions, be a wife 

and mother, and still make meaningful contributions to their community. When she 

changed professions and pursued entrepreneurial endeavors, she showed women who were in mid-career and senior-career levels that you can reinvent yourself and be successful in the next phase of life. She has taught them that women have the right and ability to make the career choices that are right for their life and family at any given time. Helena has inspired many in this community to build relationships, businesses and families, while being faithful to the values she embraces. Through her service, she demonstrated that it is not just the gift that one gives, but it’s the giver giving the best of herself that makes the gift meaningful.