On February 16, 2020, Jean M. Helliesen died peacefully in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where she had lived most of her adult years. She was born to Adeline and Herman Goldstein in West Hartford, Connecticut, on November 17, 1926,
From the time she was born until her death over 93 years later, Jean lived a notable life, full of academic achievements, community service, and rich and varied friendships.
Jean (who became Jean Bishop as a teenager after her mother remarried Harry Bishop) was driven throughout her life by an indomitable curiosity about a broad range of subjects. This helped her shine academically from her earliest years, when she was admitted to the prestigious boarding school now known as the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor Connecticut. She then attended Bryn Mawr College near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Seeking a broader perspective than that small school could provide, Jean spent her junior year in Zurich, Switzerland, where she met Per (Pelle) Helliesen, a Norwegian studying to be a doctor. They married soon after Jean graduated magna cum laude from Bryn Mawr in 1948. The newlyweds lived the next three years in Zurich, where Jean studied linguistics and Pelle finished medical school. In 1958, after Pelle completed his residency in Boston, they moved to La Crosse. Soon after, Jean began graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, earning a Ph.D. in Classics in 1968.
Her passion for learning inspired several generations of students at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse where she taught Roman, Greek, and Medieval history. She started teaching before she had finished her Ph.D, and was appointed a full professor in 1974. During her teaching career, Jean received two National Endowment for the Humanities Resident Fellowships, one at the University of North Carolina and one at Stanford. She helped found the Wisconsin Copenhagen Program in 1971, and was Resident Director there in 1977-78. She retired in 1989, but never stopped learning while she travelled around the world, and never stopped enthusiastically sharing her vast knowledge with those around her.
Jean was also a pioneering citizen activist. She became a force of nature in state Democratic politics, inspired in part by the 1960’s anti-war movement. She was chosen as a delegate for Senator Eugene McCarthy in 1968, and participated in the infamous 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. After Richard Nixon was elected, Jean helped form the New Democratic Coalition in Wisconsin, and was elected to the organization’s state Administrative Committee. Wisconsin Governor Patrick Lucey named Jean Chair of the Wisconsin American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, which created Old World Wisconsin. She was also appointed by the Governor to serve on Wisconsin’s Health Planning and Policy Task Force and was selected by U.S. Senators Nelson and Proxmire to serve on the U.S. District Court Nominating Commission.
Jean leaves behind many nieces and nephews in both the United States and Norway, many grand-nieces and nephews, and countless friends and admirers, whose lives were made better by being touched by hers.
She was preceded in death by her ex-husband Pelle; brother, Joel Bishop; and by her sister, Lois Bishop Green.
Burial will be in Anche Chesed Jewish Cemetery.
From the time she was born until her death over 93 years later, Jean lived a notable life, full of academic achievements, community service, and rich and varied friendships.
Jean (who became Jean Bishop as a teenager after her mother remarried Harry Bishop) was driven throughout her life by an indomitable curiosity about a broad range of subjects. This helped her shine academically from her earliest years, when she was admitted to the prestigious boarding school now known as the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor Connecticut. She then attended Bryn Mawr College near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Seeking a broader perspective than that small school could provide, Jean spent her junior year in Zurich, Switzerland, where she met Per (Pelle) Helliesen, a Norwegian studying to be a doctor. They married soon after Jean graduated magna cum laude from Bryn Mawr in 1948. The newlyweds lived the next three years in Zurich, where Jean studied linguistics and Pelle finished medical school. In 1958, after Pelle completed his residency in Boston, they moved to La Crosse. Soon after, Jean began graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, earning a Ph.D. in Classics in 1968.
Her passion for learning inspired several generations of students at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse where she taught Roman, Greek, and Medieval history. She started teaching before she had finished her Ph.D, and was appointed a full professor in 1974. During her teaching career, Jean received two National Endowment for the Humanities Resident Fellowships, one at the University of North Carolina and one at Stanford. She helped found the Wisconsin Copenhagen Program in 1971, and was Resident Director there in 1977-78. She retired in 1989, but never stopped learning while she travelled around the world, and never stopped enthusiastically sharing her vast knowledge with those around her.
Jean was also a pioneering citizen activist. She became a force of nature in state Democratic politics, inspired in part by the 1960’s anti-war movement. She was chosen as a delegate for Senator Eugene McCarthy in 1968, and participated in the infamous 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. After Richard Nixon was elected, Jean helped form the New Democratic Coalition in Wisconsin, and was elected to the organization’s state Administrative Committee. Wisconsin Governor Patrick Lucey named Jean Chair of the Wisconsin American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, which created Old World Wisconsin. She was also appointed by the Governor to serve on Wisconsin’s Health Planning and Policy Task Force and was selected by U.S. Senators Nelson and Proxmire to serve on the U.S. District Court Nominating Commission.
Jean leaves behind many nieces and nephews in both the United States and Norway, many grand-nieces and nephews, and countless friends and admirers, whose lives were made better by being touched by hers.
She was preceded in death by her ex-husband Pelle; brother, Joel Bishop; and by her sister, Lois Bishop Green.
Burial will be in Anche Chesed Jewish Cemetery.
On February 16, 2020, Jean M. Helliesen died peacefully in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where she had lived most of her adult years. She was born to Adeline and Herman Goldstein in West Hartford, Connecticut, on November 17, 1926,
From the time she was born until her death over 93 years later, Jean lived a notable life, full of academic achievements, community service, and rich and varied friendships.
Jean (who became Jean Bishop as a teenager after her mother remarried Harry Bishop) was driven throughout her life by an indomitable curiosity about a broad range of subjects. This helped her shine academically from her earliest years, when she was admitted to the prestigious boarding school now known as the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor Connecticut. She then attended Bryn Mawr College near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Seeking a broader perspective than that small school could provide, Jean spent her junior year in Zurich, Switzerland, where she met Per (Pelle) Helliesen, a Norwegian studying to be a doctor. They married soon after Jean graduated magna cum laude from Bryn Mawr in 1948. The newlyweds lived the next three years in Zurich, where Jean studied linguistics and Pelle finished medical school. In 1958, after Pelle completed his residency in Boston, they moved to La Crosse. Soon after, Jean began graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, earning a Ph.D. in Classics in 1968.
Her passion for learning inspired several generations of students at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse where she taught Roman, Greek, and Medieval history. She started teaching before she had finished her Ph.D, and was appointed a full professor in 1974. During her teaching career, Jean received two National Endowment for the Humanities Resident Fellowships, one at the University of North Carolina and one at Stanford. She helped found the Wisconsin Copenhagen Program in 1971, and was Resident Director there in 1977-78. She retired in 1989, but never stopped learning while she travelled around the world, and never stopped enthusiastically sharing her vast knowledge with those around her.
Jean was also a pioneering citizen activist. She became a force of nature in state Democratic politics, inspired in part by the 1960’s anti-war movement. She was chosen as a delegate for Senator Eugene McCarthy in 1968, and participated in the infamous 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. After Richard Nixon was elected, Jean helped form the New Democratic Coalition in Wisconsin, and was elected to the organization’s state Administrative Committee. Wisconsin Governor Patrick Lucey named Jean Chair of the Wisconsin American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, which created Old World Wisconsin. She was also appointed by the Governor to serve on Wisconsin’s Health Planning and Policy Task Force and was selected by U.S. Senators Nelson and Proxmire to serve on the U.S. District Court Nominating Commission.
Jean leaves behind many nieces and nephews in both the United States and Norway, many grand-nieces and nephews, and countless friends and admirers, whose lives were made better by being touched by hers.
She was preceded in death by her ex-husband Pelle; brother, Joel Bishop; and by her sister, Lois Bishop Green.
Burial will be in Anche Chesed Jewish Cemetery.
From the time she was born until her death over 93 years later, Jean lived a notable life, full of academic achievements, community service, and rich and varied friendships.
Jean (who became Jean Bishop as a teenager after her mother remarried Harry Bishop) was driven throughout her life by an indomitable curiosity about a broad range of subjects. This helped her shine academically from her earliest years, when she was admitted to the prestigious boarding school now known as the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor Connecticut. She then attended Bryn Mawr College near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Seeking a broader perspective than that small school could provide, Jean spent her junior year in Zurich, Switzerland, where she met Per (Pelle) Helliesen, a Norwegian studying to be a doctor. They married soon after Jean graduated magna cum laude from Bryn Mawr in 1948. The newlyweds lived the next three years in Zurich, where Jean studied linguistics and Pelle finished medical school. In 1958, after Pelle completed his residency in Boston, they moved to La Crosse. Soon after, Jean began graduate school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, earning a Ph.D. in Classics in 1968.
Her passion for learning inspired several generations of students at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse where she taught Roman, Greek, and Medieval history. She started teaching before she had finished her Ph.D, and was appointed a full professor in 1974. During her teaching career, Jean received two National Endowment for the Humanities Resident Fellowships, one at the University of North Carolina and one at Stanford. She helped found the Wisconsin Copenhagen Program in 1971, and was Resident Director there in 1977-78. She retired in 1989, but never stopped learning while she travelled around the world, and never stopped enthusiastically sharing her vast knowledge with those around her.
Jean was also a pioneering citizen activist. She became a force of nature in state Democratic politics, inspired in part by the 1960’s anti-war movement. She was chosen as a delegate for Senator Eugene McCarthy in 1968, and participated in the infamous 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. After Richard Nixon was elected, Jean helped form the New Democratic Coalition in Wisconsin, and was elected to the organization’s state Administrative Committee. Wisconsin Governor Patrick Lucey named Jean Chair of the Wisconsin American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, which created Old World Wisconsin. She was also appointed by the Governor to serve on Wisconsin’s Health Planning and Policy Task Force and was selected by U.S. Senators Nelson and Proxmire to serve on the U.S. District Court Nominating Commission.
Jean leaves behind many nieces and nephews in both the United States and Norway, many grand-nieces and nephews, and countless friends and admirers, whose lives were made better by being touched by hers.
She was preceded in death by her ex-husband Pelle; brother, Joel Bishop; and by her sister, Lois Bishop Green.
Burial will be in Anche Chesed Jewish Cemetery.
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