Elizabeth Helmericks

Longtime Durango resident Elizabeth Marie ("Betts") Helmericks died in Fort Collins on June 21, 2010. In recent years, she had suffered from Alzheimer's and generally declining health following heart surgery in 2005. She was born to George Trickel and Edith Bowness Trickel in Montrose, Colorado on April 17, 1925. She was called "Betty" while growing up, but was later known as "Betts" by friends.      Betty graduated from Montrose High School in 1944. She met C.J. "Jim" Helmericks, Jr. in Montrose soon after he returned from military service in World War II. They married June 9, 1946 in Montrose and soon relocated to Tucson, Arizona where Jim attended the University of Arizona on the GI Bill. While in Tucson, their first son, C.J. III ("Jimmy") was born in 1947. Upon Jim's graduation, the young family moved to Phoenix, where twin sons Gregory and Steven were born in 1951, followed by daughter Rebecca in 1957.      The family moved to Durango in 1962, settling first in the East Animas Valley, then later to the West Animas Valley, about a mile south of Honeyville. In the 1960s, Mrs. Helmericks worked as an administrative assistant at the old Pinerock School near Trimble Lane, at the San Juan Basin Health Unit, and for many years at the San Juan Federal Credit Union, now known as Southwest Colorado Federal Credit Union. When the couple divorced in 1969, Mrs. Helmericks began taking classes at Fort Lewis College, where she earned her Associate of Arts degree in 1976. She took a position in acquisitions at that time at the Fort Lewis College library, staying until her retirement in 2003 at the age of 78. She made many dear friends while working at the college library, including Dick and Martha Gobble, John Marrinacio, John Crowder, Esther Liu, Cathy Conrad, Emily Bisio, and Becky Padilla. Roberta (Schilling) Shipps stayed in touch over the years, sending cards and greetings at holidays and birthdays. Bobbi Vagneur also provided love and critical personal care for Betts in Durango before it became necessary for her to move to Fort Collins in 2007, where son Steve and his wife Kathie assumed total responsibility for all her personal and health-related needs. Mrs. Helmericks spent her last three years in nursing facilities in Fort Collins. Betts was happy and proud to work at the Fort Lewis College library. In her 27 years there, she befriended countless students. Even after graduating, James Temte (now Air Quality Program Manager for the Southern Ute Tribe), often helped her with chores around her little house at the corner of 32nd Street and 4th Avenue in Durango.           She was a loyal friend, and a sweet and generous soul. Following the death of her son, Gregory, of AIDS in 1986, Betts began to contribute time and money in support of AIDS research. She became a fierce supporter of gay and lesbian rights, and shared unconditional love and compassion with many in the Durango community. In 1988, she participated in a March on Washington, D.C. to promote increased AIDS research and to show support for those stricken with AIDS and their families. During this 1988 march, she attended the display of the entire "NAMES Project" AIDS Memorial Quilt on the Washington Mall, which included Gregory's quilt-panel, crafted earlier by family and Greg's partner, Paul Miller. Betts appeared briefly in the 1989 documentary "Common Threads: Stories From The Quilt," wherein she was shown mourning her son's death during the Washington Mall display. Later, back at Fort Lewis College, she spoke at a campus-wide AIDS awareness conference, where her first-person account of the ongoing devastation wrought by the AIDS tragedy impacted all who heard her. At peace with her self and her life, she rarely complained about personal challenges. However, she was always there when someone else needed love or a helping hand. She collected inspirational quotes and thoughts throughout her life, posting them at work or in her house, or sharing them with family and friends. One such thought by Helen Keller seemed to sum-up her own philosophy on life: "So much has been given to me, I have no time to ponder over that which has been denied." Elizabeth Marie ("Betts") Helmericks is survived by sons Jim Helmericks of Durango (and wife Sharon), Steve Helmericks of Fort Collins (and wife Kathie), daughter Becky Welcome of Medford, Oregon, eleven grandchildren, several great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her son, Gregory Helmericks in Los Angeles in 1986, and by her grandson Joshua Helmericks (Jim and Sharon's son) in Durango in 2007.