Helen Pickell Schaich

Helen Pickell Lobertini Schaich, age 85, passed away early Saturday morning. She graduated from Knoxville High School in 1950 and attended the University of Tennessee. She was preceded in death by her husband of 13 years, Bob Schaich, by her parents, J. W. Pickell and Helen Huffine Pickell, her twin sister, Eleanor Pickell Johnson, and her older sister, Edith Pickell Williams. When she was 13 years old she began playing violin in the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. In later years she played with the Queens College Community Orchestra in Charlotte, North Carolina, Oak Ridge Community Orchestra and the University of Tennessee Community Orchestra. He great joy was playing her violin before the worship services at the three Shannondale facilities. But her greatest joy was in raising her three children! She leaves to mourn her passing her children: Marcia Lobertini Bouska (David), Robert Stephen Lobertini (Diana), and Susan Marie Lobertini, and her grandchildren Ian Michael Connell (Hope) and Kristin Elizabeth Connell and their families. She has also enjoyed her husband’s four children and their families. After having retired from KUB as a computer programmer in 1995, she resumed her hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains, primarily with Margaret Stevenson’s Wednesday Hikers, and received The 900 Miler Association Certificate for hiking all of the official trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Visitation will be at Highland Memorial Funeral Home from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon Tuesday, January 23, 2018. The funeral service will begin at 12:00 noon with interment to follow at 1:00 p.m. at Highland Memorial. The family would like to thank the staff at Shannondale Nursing Home, where Helen lived for six years, for their constant vigilance and excellent care. In lieu of flowers, the family would suggest a donation to Friends of the Smokies or the charity of your choice.