Obituary of Helen Pickens

Helen Geneva (Santala) Pickens was born on May 20, 1923, in Liberal, Kansas to Edith and Herman Santala. She attended school in Satanta, Kansas and had many friends there. Helen was well-known for her mischievous sense of humor and her taste in fashion. As a teenager, she won a regional sewing prize and a trip to Chicago for a coat and dress ensemble she created in 4-H. After attending Kansas State Teacher's College in Emporia, Helen taught elementary school for two years in Kansas. She spent part of World War II working as a bookkeeper in a munitions factory in Denver, Colorado. At the end of the war, on December 26, 1945, she married her lifelong love, William "Bill" Pickens. They shared fifty-seven years of marriage before Bill passed away on July 4, 2002. To this union they shared four sons, William “Gary”, Kenneth, Rodney and Bruce. In 1948 they moved to a farm near Flagler, Colorado. There they raised four sons and were active participants in the Flagler community. Through her sons, Helen became an avid sports fan, an interest which continued throughout her later years. After her death on October 28, 2011, Helen is survived by her sons and their families: Gary and Marilyn Pickens of Austin, Texas, and their daughter Larissa Pickens, son-in-law Hans Georg Freiermuth, and granddaughter Helena Freiermuth; Kenneth Pickens and Susan of Omaha, Nebraska, and their sons Matthew and Andrew Pickens; Rodney and Takako Pickens of Fairfax Station, Virginia, and their daughter and son-in-law Aki and Michael Anderson Berry; Bruce and Sharon Pickens of Centennial, Colorado, and their daughter Ashley. Helen is also survived by her siblings, Alma Lee Zizza and Herman Dwane Santala, and many nieces, nephews and cousins. Helen was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Eldred, and her beloved husband Bill Pickens.