Helen Louise Wickman
September 11, 1926 ~ February 19, 2022
On Saturday, February 19, 2022, Helen Louise Wickman, loving sister, aunt, mother, grandmother and great grandmother passed away at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington after a blessed visit with her son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.
Helen was born in Ontario, Canada to Freeman and Mabel Colborne and moved with her parents and sister, Marybelle, to Michigan in 1929, where she became a U.S. citizen in 1943, married Peter Wickman in 1949, and gave birth to a son, Stephen, in 1953. Helen and Peter divorced in 1965.
She received a Bachelor's Degree from Greenville College in Illinois, where she worked in the college administration office, edited and typed her husband's doctoral dissertation, and raised her young son. After three years working in business in Gainesville, Florida, she moved to Long Island, New York in 1963 and worked as a middle-school math teacher, studying at night to earn a Masters Degree from Adelphi University while raising her son virtually on her own. She was an avid tennis player and fan and enjoyed sharing this passion with her son.
Helen took a leave of absence from teaching in 1972-73 to live on the southern coast of Spain with her friend Helen Golden and her son. Upon her return, she retired from teaching to work for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In the late 1980s, she and Helen recreated their Spanish beach experience on the California coast, working for the U.S. Navy in San Diego before finally retiring in Redondo Beach, near Los Angeles, in the 1990s.
Helen thoroughly enjoyed the beach, strolling and dining daily along the Esplanade and revelling in visits from her grandchildren, Jeremy and Erica, when her son and his wife Phyllis visited from his overseas assignments in Asia. She relocated to Salem, Oregon in the mid-2000's before moving to Northern Virginia in 2011 after her dear friend Helen passed away.
Although Virginia did not have the charms of the West Coast, Helen was happy finally to live near her family. She especially enjoyed being involved in Erica's senior recital at the College of William and Mary, participating in Jeremy's wedding to Margaret Cox, and welcoming her great-granddaughter Finley into the world. Even after two strokes, Helen's eyes lit up every time she saw Finley, and her smile was as wide as they come.
Helen was an independent woman, a great friend, and a generous and beloved matriarch.
In addition to her son and his family, she is survived by her sister Marybelle Harper, a niece, three nephews, and their children and grandchildren.
A memorial service is to be scheduled at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, McLean.
Helen was born in Ontario, Canada to Freeman and Mabel Colborne and moved with her parents and sister, Marybelle, to Michigan in 1929, where she became a U.S. citizen in 1943, married Peter Wickman in 1949, and gave birth to a son, Stephen, in 1953. Helen and Peter divorced in 1965.
She received a Bachelor's Degree from Greenville College in Illinois, where she worked in the college administration office, edited and typed her husband's doctoral dissertation, and raised her young son. After three years working in business in Gainesville, Florida, she moved to Long Island, New York in 1963 and worked as a middle-school math teacher, studying at night to earn a Masters Degree from Adelphi University while raising her son virtually on her own. She was an avid tennis player and fan and enjoyed sharing this passion with her son.
Helen took a leave of absence from teaching in 1972-73 to live on the southern coast of Spain with her friend Helen Golden and her son. Upon her return, she retired from teaching to work for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In the late 1980s, she and Helen recreated their Spanish beach experience on the California coast, working for the U.S. Navy in San Diego before finally retiring in Redondo Beach, near Los Angeles, in the 1990s.
Helen thoroughly enjoyed the beach, strolling and dining daily along the Esplanade and revelling in visits from her grandchildren, Jeremy and Erica, when her son and his wife Phyllis visited from his overseas assignments in Asia. She relocated to Salem, Oregon in the mid-2000's before moving to Northern Virginia in 2011 after her dear friend Helen passed away.
Although Virginia did not have the charms of the West Coast, Helen was happy finally to live near her family. She especially enjoyed being involved in Erica's senior recital at the College of William and Mary, participating in Jeremy's wedding to Margaret Cox, and welcoming her great-granddaughter Finley into the world. Even after two strokes, Helen's eyes lit up every time she saw Finley, and her smile was as wide as they come.
Helen was an independent woman, a great friend, and a generous and beloved matriarch.
In addition to her son and his family, she is survived by her sister Marybelle Harper, a niece, three nephews, and their children and grandchildren.
A memorial service is to be scheduled at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, McLean.
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Stephen, this is your cousin Jerolyn Palmer Shaw. I remember your mother when she was married to my Uncle Peter. They would come up to visit us in the Sault. We would get so excited because they would take us with them sometimes when they played tennis up at Lake Superior State University. Your mom was a fine Christian woman. I am sorry for your loss. She sure had a long life. So glad she could be near her family in her later years. Jerolyn Shaw