Helen E. Van Sickle

Helen Elizabeth Miller Van Sickle was born on March 26th, 1922 in Pawnee, Oklahoma. She passed away on November 28th, 2012 in Edmond, Oklahoma. She is preceded in death by her husband Merrill F. Van Sickle. She is survived by her children, Jim A. Van Sickle of Edmond, Oklahoma and Carola B. Vendetti of Wataguah, Texas. She was blessed with three grandchildren, Orion and Zach Van Steenbergh and Aaron Vendetti and three great-grandchildren, Eli, Kylee, and Ethan Van Steenbergh.

Helen was born in Pawnee but grew up in Oklahoma City. She graduated from Oklahoma A&M (now OSU) in Stillwater, Oklahoma and then moved to California where she worked as an executive secretary for the Navy. There she met her future husband, Merrill F. Van Sickle who she lovingly referred to as "Van". They were married in Anchorage, Alaska in 1952 and soon deployed to Germany. While stationed in Germany they adopted Jim and Carola and returned home three years later with two children a standard poodle and a Volkswagen!

Helen was a loving wife, mother and loyal friend. She was a member of Epsilom Sigma Alpha sorority, the Oklahoma City Order of the Eastern Star Siloam Chapter 463 and Daughters of the Nile, India Shrine Center. Helen was a woman with many interests. As a young woman she was a blond beauty who loved the ocean and dressing up for the many social events she attended, yet she also was a superior marksman with a rifle, winning medals while in Alaska. In her later years she loved decorating her home and shopping, especially at B.C. Clark and Dillard's.

Her family would like to thank the staff of Coppperlake Retirement Center in Edmond, Oklahoma and the loving nurses and staff of Physician's Choice Hospice.