Mary Helen Wilson

WILSON, Mary Helen
of Kalamazoo Mary Helen Wilson died peacefully early in the morning on February 9, 2011, at Clare Bridge House in Portage, MI. She enjoyed steadfast love, caring and support from family and friends until the end. A memorial birthday celebration of Mary Helen's life will be held at The Fountains at Bronson Place in Kalamazoo, MI on Friday, March 11 at 3 p.m. All who knew and loved Mary Helen are welcome. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Kalamazoo Loaves and Fishes www.kzoolf.org or to Ecumenical Ministries of Fairhope, AL www.baldwinemi.com . Please visit www.langelands.com to sign, view or print Mary Helen's online guestbook or leave a condolence to the family. Mary Helen was born on March 11, 1924 in Graham, Texas, the third of four children of J.Wright Wilson Sr. and Esther Gray Wilson. She spent her early childhood years in Graham and Amarillo, Texas. At the start of the Depression, her family moved to Fairhope, AL, where Mary Helen attended the Marietta Johnson School of Organic Education. She returned to Texas for high school and graduated in 1942 from El Campo High School, El Campo, Texas. In September 1944, Mary Helen enlisted in the U.S. Navy. She served as a Yeoman, 3rd class in the Navy's WAVES Women Enlisted for Volunteer Emergency Service and was honorably discharged after the end of the war, in April 1946. During her wartime service, Mary Helen met and married Daniel Dougherty Witcher. After the war, the couple completed certificates in foreign trade at The American Institute of Foreign Trade Thunderbird in Arizona. Soon afterward, they moved to Brazil, where they lived, worked and raised their family of four children for fourteen years. In 1964, Mary Helen and her family returned to Kalamazoo, MI. She attended Western Michigan University, earning first a Bachelor's degree in Spanish and a Master's degree in Cultural Anthropology. She later was an instructor at WMU and was well known for her creative and engaging approach to teaching of undergraduate students. Mary Helen became active in the Kalamazoo YMCA in 1967 and is credited with having introduced and then built programming for women there for over 20 years. She served as one the Y's first women lifeguards, as a fitness and swimming instructor, then as Director of Women's Programming. She later served for seven years as the first woman member of the YMCA's Board of Directors and was a leading advocate for the inclusion of the Women's Full Service facility in the Y's mid 1980's expansion. After her marriage ended in 1982, Mary Helen remained in Kalamazoo through the 1980's. In addition to her other pursuits, she was active in the Civic Theater and the Independent Play Producers, appearing in two productions. She also was a travel agent for Ambassador Travel, and later was Marketing Coordinator for Travel Diplomat, a woman-owned enterprise. Mary Helen returned to live in her beloved childhood home of Fairhope, AL in 1990. She distinguished herself there as a community volunteer, serving over 1000 hours with the Thomas Hospital Auxiliary. She was also an active volunteer for Ecumenical Ministries of Baldwin County, and for the Eastern Shore Institute of Lifelong Learning, where she taught a course in Brazilian Portuguese. Mary Helen's love of travel led her to become a regular participant in Elder Hostel programs around the world. She was retained by Elder Hostel as a coordinator for local educational tours around Mobile and south Alabama. Her continuing love of theater led her to appear in several productions of Fairhope's Theater 98, including a celebrated run of "Steel Magnolias". Mary Helen returned to Kalamazoo in 2004. She lived at the Fountains at Bronson Place surrounded by many of her friends from earlier years. Typically, she soon became a leader in that community, serving as chair of several committees, including Books and Ideas, Activities, and Food. Mary Helen Wilson had a special ability to bring people together to explore and have fun. She was a spark and a leader in every community with which she was associated, and was never afraid to try something new. She was a lifelong Democrat, a committed egalitarian and an advocate for women's rights and social justice. She loved intellectual arguments, but no more than she loved a good ribald joke. She lived life to learn and to have fun and touched people of all ages and backgrounds along the way. Mary Helen will be forever missed. Mary Helen Wilson is survived by her daughter, Dr. Bethann Witcher-Cottrell and husband Rev. William Cottrell, of Atlanta, GA; by her sons, Daniel D. Witcher Jr. of Sao Paulo, Brazil, J.Wright Witcher and wife Leslie Erickson, of Phoenix, MD, and Benjamin Witcher and wife Robin, of Bridgewater, MA. She is also survived by her sister, Esther Young, of Foley, AL, and by14 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.