Helen Elsie JEFFREY

1918 - 2009  (91 years)

• Name	Helen Elsie JEFFREY
  Born	13 Jan 1918	Wauwatosa, Milwaukee, Wisconsin   [1]
  Gender	Female
  Died	26 Aug 2009	Colorado Springs, Colorado   [1]
  Buried	Shrine Of Remembrance Chapel Mausoleum, Colorado Springs   [1]
  Person ID	I84	John Cowan Family Tree
  Last Modified	7 Feb 2019

  
  

  Father	Fraser JEFFREY           b. 23 Jan 1884, Cobourg, Ontario           d. 24 Mar 1960, Wauwatosa, Milwaukee, Wisconsin  (Age 76 years)
  Mother	Elsie STAFFORD           b. 14 Feb 1892, Milwaukee           d. 14 Jul 1980, Wauwatosa, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA  (Age 88 years)
  Family ID	F10	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Douglas Edmond THATCHER           d. 1967, Colorado Springs, Colorado
  Married	5 Jan 1946	Wauwatosa, Milwaukee, Wisconsin   [1]
  Children	1. James THATCHER           b. 1955?           d. 1994?   2. Jeffrey D. THATCHER           b. 1947, Mequon, Wisconsin, USA           d. 1 Aug 2018, Berkely Springs, West Virginia, USA  (Age 71 years)
  Last Modified	8 Aug 2020
  Family ID	F176	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Information provided by Eileen Hutchison to John Cowan Oct 20, 1997 Obit extracts - (Library/Fraser Jeffrey/Item 3) Helen Jeffrey Thatcher passed away at the Pike's Peak Hospice in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She graduated from Antioch College in Ohio just as World War II was breaking out. After college, Helen worked for Globe Union in Wauwatosa, where she met her future husband, Douglas Edmond Thatcher. In the winter of 1944, Helen joined the Red Cross and was sent directly to England where she worked for 6 months in the Aero Club at an 8th Air Force fighter base. Here, she ran a club for the enlisted men with the only other woman on base. After the invasion, Helen was transferred to hospital work and became head of the Red Cross at the 33rd Station Hospital. With this group, she later went to Wales, and then to France. While attached to the hospital unit she provided recreational and social work services to American servicemen. After 18 months, Helen returned home as the war ended and reunited with Doug Thatcher who had served in the Pacific Theater while she was in Europe. Helen and Doug moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1956, where they raised their two sons. Doug died in 1967 and Helen later moved to California, where she served as the administrator of a retirement home in San Clemente for many years. After retirement, Helen lived in Colorado Springs and California, spending the past 8 years in Fair Oaks, California. She returned to Colorado Springs a few months ago to "see the mountains one more time." Throughout her life, Helen was an animal lover, a dedicated Red Cross volunteer, a copious reader, and a lover of the outdoors. She will be remembered by friends and family for her quick wit and love of both a good joke and every animal that ever crossed her path. Helen has six grandchildren: Justin, Christopher, Jamie, Ian, April, and Derek; and four great-grandchildren: Juliette, Christian, Thadeus, and WeiLun. Helen will rest next to her husband Doug at the Shrine of Remembrance Chapel Mausoleum in Colorado Springs.

  
  

• Sources

  [S97] Helen Jeffrey Thatcher, (The Gazette at https://obits.gazette.com/obituaries/gazette/obituary.aspx?n=helen-jeffrey-thatcher&pid=132181988&fhid=6109), Library/Fraser Jeffrey/Item 3. (Reliability: 2), 7 Feb 2019.