Helen Louise Gillespie
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Helen was born in July, 1928 in Flint, Michigan. She was the youngest child of Howard Gillespie and Eliza Jane Coquigne. Helen was named for Helen Louise Coquigne, her mother's sister who had died in childhood. Helen's mother, Eliza Jane, died in 1941 when Helen was 13 years old, and after that, Helen attended boarding schools. Helen lived for awhile with her Aunt Harriet (really her grand-aunt, Harriet Gillespie Hibbard), and Helen always talked about Aunt Harriet with great affection. Helen's father, Howard, remarried to Hilda Nielsen, in 1944. Hilda was a loving person, and Helen came to call her Mom.
After graduation from high school, Helen moved to Denver, Colorado where she lived on Zuni Street. She worked for the Denver Police Department as a dispatcher and similar roles. Helen loved Denver and made several life-long friends there. It was there that she met Richard "Dick" Schaefer who was training at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver. They married in 1952, and lived in Denver before Dick was sent to serve in Korea. During Dick's absence, Helen lived briefly with Dick's parents in Brooklyn, and then with her parents in Michigan.
Helen and Dick were married for 17 years. They had three children, a dog (Chris), a couple of guinea pigs (Oscar & Katie), and they lived in six states from Maine to California making many friends along the way. Helen divorced from Dick in 1969, and she returned to Omaha, Nebraska to make a home to raise her children and a couple of cats (Kitty Blue & Stanley). Among other things, Helen took great interest in Native American culture, and in particular the Winnebago tribe. Attending Pow Wows was one of her favorite things in life.
Helen worked for many years at the Eastern Nebraska Center for Retardation (ENCOR) before receiving a degree in Sociology from St. Mary's College. Eventually, Helen was able to buy her own home on Parklane Drive, in which she took great pride. Helen then completed her career working for the Sociology Dept. at Creighton University, a position that engaged her interests in diverse people and culture. Helen remarried twice more, but ultimately she preferred to be single.
After retirement, Helen lived briefly with her daughter in Colorado, but soon returned to Omaha where she felt more at home. She owned a town house at Village Green where she lived comfortably and affordably for several years. But health problems started to trouble her. In 2002, she was diagnosed with breast cancer which lead to a mastectomy. After chemotherapy and a slow recovery, she volunteered to help counsel other cancer survivors, especially those her age. But other medical problems persisted, and after a shoulder replacement, Helen moved to assisted living. There she learned to use her computer which she liked for corresponding by email, reading the news of family on Facebook, and playing electronic card games! But after two more surgeries resulting from one broken hip and then the other, Helen eventually needed full-time nursing care. She passed away suddenly from cardiac failure, just a month shy of her 90th birthday.
Helen was survived by her three children, Mary Ann (Clara), Matthew (Holly), and Paula (Andy), and several grandchildren. Helen donated her remains to the Nebraska Medical Center for medical research, and in April, 2019 a service was held at St. John's Church on the Creighton University campus in Omaha in honor of Helen and others whose anatomical donations help research and training in the medical field. The service was attended by hundreds, including Helen's family and friends, who were remembering their loved ones.