Helen Louise Holt was born in Gridley, Illinois, in 1913, the daughter of William and Edna Froelich, a well respected farming family. William Froelich served several terms as mayor of Gridley. Helen graduated from high school in 1930; attended Stephens College, receiving an A.A. degree in 1932; and attended Northwestern University, earning a B.A. in 1934 and a M.S. in Biology in 1938. Later Helen started working toward a doctorate at University of Missouri and University of North Carolina. She was a science librarian and teaching assistant at Stephens College and taught Biology at National Park College near Washington D.C., 1938-1941. In 1940, Helen Froelich was introduced to the junior Senator from West Virginia, Rush Dew Holt by Senator Holt's sister, Jane, after the Senator saw Helen's picture in Life Magazine. The article refuted a letter written by a reader claiming female teachers were 'ugly' by publishing photographs of attractive, intelligent women educators. All the photographs were sent to the magazine by students, including Helen Froelich's. Senator Holt and Helen Froelich were married a year later.

The couple moved to West Virginia after Senator Holt lost his bid for renomination to retain his senate seat. Two children were born to the couple, Helen Jane Holt and Rush Dew Holt, Jr. During this period, Mrs. Holt described herself as a homemaker while Senator Holt worked on restoring his political career and running for office. Helen Holt was involved in the inner circle of her husband's campaigns and during his service in the West Virginia legislature. In 1955, Rush Dew Holt died of cancer, and Helen Holt was appointed by the governor to fulfill her late husband's term in the House of Delegates. In 1957, after the death of the Secretary of State, Governor Cecil Underwood appointed Helen Holt to the office of Secretary of State, making her the first woman to hold that position in West Virginia history. After losing to Joe F. Burdett for election to the office in 1958, Mrs. Holt continued to break the gender barrier: she was the first woman appointed assistant commissioner of public institutions in West Virginia, she was voted to serve as a delegate at large at the Republican Convention, and she was later the first woman to serve as a trustee on the Board of the National Presbyterian Church in Washington. In 1960, Helen Holt received a Presidential appointment as Special Assistant to the Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration. She was later made the Director of Mortgage Insurance for Nursing Homes, and assistant to Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Helen Froelich Holt retired from government service in 1983, but still remains active in her church, family and public service.