With eyes open, he died needing help at home (9)
I believe the answer is:
observant
'with eyes open' is the definition.
'he died needing help at home' is the wordplay.
'he died' becomes 'ob' ('ob.' can mean 'died' from the Latin obiit).
'needing' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'help at home' becomes 'servant'.
'ob'+'servant'='OBSERVANT'
(Other definitions for observant that I've seen before include "adhering to religious practices" , "(Of music)using conventional keys" , "aware of surroundings" , "Perceptive" , "following religious practices" .)