Helen N. Graab Ericson

Helen Nellie was born on November 1, 1924 in Los Angeles, California. Her parents were Henry Graab, a very stern German father, and Marie Jesus Perez Rodriguez, a loving, caring Mexican mother. She was the fourth child, having one older sister, Anita, and two older brothers, Hank and Bob. Later she also had two younger sisters, Betty and Doris, and a younger brother Dickie who died at nine months old.

She grew up in the Atwater community, a suburb of Los Angeles. She went to the public school starting with Atwater Elementary School and ending with John Marshall High School. The teachers at Atwater Elementary School remembered her well and often talked about her to her daughter, Anna, when she was in their class. They portrayed Helen as a talker, a leader, a person who liked to do her own thing. In high school Helen was an average student who would rather go to the beach with friends than school, consequently she would ditch from time to time. Several times she got into trouble for this. She loved life and constantly wanted to be on the go.

She was a person who had many friends, and remained friends with them throughout her life. After she graduated high school she and several of her girlfriends went down to the Waves recruiter to sign up. They were not happy with their jobs and wanted to see the world. They all went in, but the Waves only took Helen so shortly after that she went to New York for boot camp. Eventually she became a mail worker in the large military post office in New York. She drove many trucks at the facility.

While she was there her younger sister, Betty, came to visit her several times. They did a lot of sightseeing. Helen went on a blind date arranged by her friends and she met the love of her life, Donald Ericson. He was also in the service, but the war had just ended. They dated a short time until Don was due to get out of the service. He asked her to marry him and of course she said yes. This allowed her to get out of the Waves because the war had ended and their policy was that you could get out if you were married.

They got married on a 10 hour pass, finalized getting out of the service, and headed to California. Finding a job was difficult for Don, but he did many things to provide for them. The first was a job Helen’s father helped him get as a carpenter at the Motion picture studios. Ten months later they had a baby, Anna Marie. They loved each other very much and always made time for the family. They went on frequent outings including Yosemite where they were snowed in for three days, and loved to go to the beach and camping at Carpenteria. Three and a half years later they had a second daughter, Donna Diane.

They eventually were able to buy a small house in the Atwater community. Helen took a job at Kodak at night while Don worked at Burrows plastics in the daytime. Finally things became much easier when Don found a career with the post office. Helen was able to quit and stay at home and two and a half years later they had a third daughter, Sally Anne. They had really wanted a son, but they loved their daughters immensely.

Camping at Carpenteria really became a big part of their lives. They went there as often as possible. Helen would have everything packed up when Don came home from work and then the whole family would get in the car and go to the beach for the week end.

In 1958, when Anna had graduated Atwater Elem. School, Donna had just finished second grade, and Sally had just finished her first semester of Kindergarten, they found a house for sale in the Glendale area, close to where Helen’s sister Anita lived. It was a closed bid estate sale. They won the bid and got the house so they put their Atwater house up for sale and moved. Things were very tight because for nine months they had two house payments. Helen went back to work, finding a job at Security Pacific Bank in their central collating department.

When their Atwater house finally sold things were easier, but Helen loved her job and the added income. They were able to resume their camping and traveling a little farther. Don took a second job at Security Pacific Bank as a courier for all the valley branches, which meant that he now got home around 7:00PM.

Helen had raised her daughters to be very independent and responsible and they were all in school. Don went to work at 4:00 AM then Helen would get the girls up, get everyone ready for the day, and get them fed before going to work herself. Anna became responsible for seeing that they all had everything they needed, the house was locked up, and all three walked to school together and on time. After school Anna would either watch Donna and Sally or take them to Mrs. Mallory’s house, a neighbor, see that their homework was done, and start the prep for dinner. The family always ate together as soon as Don walked in the door.

Vacations on the weekends continued and expanded. Helen and Don found Lake Cachuma and Solvang, so fishing, boating and new experiences were now a part of the fun. Helen loved doing new things, especially traveling. In keeping with doing new things, Helen and Don took fun courses at the high school including photography, which led to turning a room in the back of their garage into a dark room, upholstery, whereby they reupholstered several pieces of furniture around the house, and Helen even took cake decorating.

Shortly after Anna got her driver’s license and in keeping with Helen’s belief that her children should be independent and responsible, Helen arranged for Anna to drive Donna and Sally and their good friend Tina up to San Francisco to spend several days with the Millers, long-time family friends.

After planning, saving and buying a camper, the family took a month long trip to the New York World’s Fair after Anna graduated high school. They drove across the country, stopping and sightseeing both coming and going. This was a final family vacation as the girls were growing up and would soon be on their own.

Several years later after Donna and Sally had graduated high school, Helen and Don decided they could now afford to travel more. They went to Europe for 23 days in 1972, Hong Kong in 1974 with Betty and Doug and New York and New Jersey in 1976.

In 1972 Helen became a grandmother with Andrea being the first, followed with Chris in 1974, Denise in 1977, Pamela in 1979, Veronica in 1986, and Nicholas in 1986. She was beaming and loved being a grandma.

In 1980 Helen and Don both retired all their jobs. They went on a road trip with their best friends, Harriett and Gale Anderson, to New Mexico in Anna’s motor home. Getting a taste for travel Don joined the Postal Credit Union of Los Angeles’s Board of Directors so Helen and Don could go to conferences around the world. They would always extend their time for the conferences and travel by car to as many countries as they could get to. In 1984 they went to a conference extending their time to eight weeks and traveled to Andorra, France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, and England. Helen had the time of her life and brought back gifts for everyone. She was a born shopper.

Traveling became a focus for their lives. In 1985 they took Pam, Denise, and Chris to San Francisco; in 1986 they took Andrea to Monterrey, and in 1989 they took Donna and Veronica to Canada. They also continued to go camping, especially with Sally and Nicholas.

When they weren't engaged in traveling they still kept busy. Helen, and Don as an honorary member, joined the John Marshall high school reunion committee. For months their house was filled with tables of address cards in preparation for the reunion. It was tedious and painstaking, but Helen loved it. It culminated in 1994 at Helen’s 50th high school reunion.

Continuing their travel with the credit union Helen and Don went to Germany in 1996 and Seattle in 1997. This was pretty much the end of their world traveling. From then on their trips were driving trips no more than a day’s drive away from home: Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Diego, Palm Springs, and Arizona.

In 2005 realizing that they were slowing down, Helen and Don sold their Glendale house and bought a house in Las Vegas where their daughter Anna lived. During construction they also bought the house next door so that Anna could be close enough to help. This lasted for two years until they needed Anna even closer so they rented out the one house and Anna moved in with them. During this time they still traveled, but only to Phoenix, Palm Springs, Big Bear, and Canoga Park. They loved being in Las Vegas as they enjoyed going to the local casinos. Helen loved the slot machines, but even that was becoming difficult for her. At this point Helen and Don were both in wheel chairs.

Don passed away in 2010 and Helen was in the mid stage of Alzheimer so she was only mildly aware that he wasn't there.

A month later Anna moved to Arizona taking Helen with her, but to an Alzheimer and Dementia facility. Initially she loved it with their myriad of activities and Anna took her out for lunch once a week. Unfortunately, she continued to deteriorate until she died on February 1, 2015, a date that would have been her 69th wedding anniversary. Now she is in a better place and with the love of her life, Don Ericson.