With an eternal smile that speaks for itself, this sweet and kind soul, known as the "Miss University of Florida" in 1953, Helen Jean Kiekhaefer Wimberly, was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Nov. 8, 1933, to Carl and Freda Kiekhaefer.
Carl was the inventor of the Mercury Outboard Engine, and the developer of the Mercury Outboard Motor Corporation, but most of all he was a proud father. And being the motor enthusiast he was, he even had a race car built in honor of Helen's Florida reign for the Pan American Road Race in 1953.
After racing Helen's car in Mexico City, Mexico, Helen's father would go on to become the first major national sponsor to NASCAR (excluding automotive related companies), and become a two time NASCAR championship owner.
Helen's 1953 reign, was a significant year for the University of Florida, as it was the University's 1st centennial (100 year anniversary).
In addition to her collegiate activities, Helen loved the water (a passion she shared with her father), and soon found herself an avid skier. She even landed herself a role skiing for the famed Aqua Maids Troupe at Cypress Gardens, Florida, where she participated in many ski shows.
Helen's water skills also landed her roles in several films, and TV programs, including the MGM classic movie, "Easy to Love," with Esther Williams.
******
Helen grew up in Cedarburg, where she started elementary school and later attended Cedarburg High School between 1948 and 1952. She was an energetic student and popular with her classmates, participating in many events with the Cedarburg High School Band, the Drum and the Bugle Corps, the Melletone singers and chorus. She was also a cheerleader and was prom queen in her junior year.
After high school she left Wisconsin and attended the University of Florida, from 1952 to 1956, where she majored in commercial art with a degree in fine arts. Later, she attended the University Medical School, where she trained as a registered nurse in 1967. Helen was very active at the university, being a football cheerleader and Miss University of Florida in 1953. She settled in Gainesville and engaged in painting, exhibiting many of her paintings in Sarasota and Gainesville. Helen married her football hero and adopted a son who grew up in Florida.
Later, Helen and her son moved to Bedford, Va., where she joined Legacy Outreach. She could express her creativity as well as providing a secure family-like setting for her son. She became interested in the environment and adopted many animals as pets. Helen developed her talent as a painter and taught art from 1977 until she went back to work as a nurse in 1982. She worked as a nurse at Lynchburg General Hospital and later at Bedford Memorial Hospital, a joint venture between Carilion Clinic and Centra. In 2001 she became a full-time caretaker for her mother, Freda, who had suffered a stroke and was paralyzed on one side, until she passed away in 2005. During that time Helen developed a signature garden and became a landscapist, but in 2004 she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Nevertheless, she continued to paint and take care of her plants and pets: two ragdoll cats, 13 canaries, a gerbil, a chinchilla and her outdoor cats.
On Aug. 26, 2012 she lost her battle with the cancer. She is survived by her son who was living with her in Bedford, her sister and brother and sister-in-law. Helen will always be remembered for her sweet personality, her wonderful smile and as a sensitive, loving and generous person who loved music, nature and animals, especially her pets.
Carl was the inventor of the Mercury Outboard Engine, and the developer of the Mercury Outboard Motor Corporation, but most of all he was a proud father. And being the motor enthusiast he was, he even had a race car built in honor of Helen's Florida reign for the Pan American Road Race in 1953.
After racing Helen's car in Mexico City, Mexico, Helen's father would go on to become the first major national sponsor to NASCAR (excluding automotive related companies), and become a two time NASCAR championship owner.
Helen's 1953 reign, was a significant year for the University of Florida, as it was the University's 1st centennial (100 year anniversary).
In addition to her collegiate activities, Helen loved the water (a passion she shared with her father), and soon found herself an avid skier. She even landed herself a role skiing for the famed Aqua Maids Troupe at Cypress Gardens, Florida, where she participated in many ski shows.
Helen's water skills also landed her roles in several films, and TV programs, including the MGM classic movie, "Easy to Love," with Esther Williams.
******
Helen grew up in Cedarburg, where she started elementary school and later attended Cedarburg High School between 1948 and 1952. She was an energetic student and popular with her classmates, participating in many events with the Cedarburg High School Band, the Drum and the Bugle Corps, the Melletone singers and chorus. She was also a cheerleader and was prom queen in her junior year.
After high school she left Wisconsin and attended the University of Florida, from 1952 to 1956, where she majored in commercial art with a degree in fine arts. Later, she attended the University Medical School, where she trained as a registered nurse in 1967. Helen was very active at the university, being a football cheerleader and Miss University of Florida in 1953. She settled in Gainesville and engaged in painting, exhibiting many of her paintings in Sarasota and Gainesville. Helen married her football hero and adopted a son who grew up in Florida.
Later, Helen and her son moved to Bedford, Va., where she joined Legacy Outreach. She could express her creativity as well as providing a secure family-like setting for her son. She became interested in the environment and adopted many animals as pets. Helen developed her talent as a painter and taught art from 1977 until she went back to work as a nurse in 1982. She worked as a nurse at Lynchburg General Hospital and later at Bedford Memorial Hospital, a joint venture between Carilion Clinic and Centra. In 2001 she became a full-time caretaker for her mother, Freda, who had suffered a stroke and was paralyzed on one side, until she passed away in 2005. During that time Helen developed a signature garden and became a landscapist, but in 2004 she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Nevertheless, she continued to paint and take care of her plants and pets: two ragdoll cats, 13 canaries, a gerbil, a chinchilla and her outdoor cats.
On Aug. 26, 2012 she lost her battle with the cancer. She is survived by her son who was living with her in Bedford, her sister and brother and sister-in-law. Helen will always be remembered for her sweet personality, her wonderful smile and as a sensitive, loving and generous person who loved music, nature and animals, especially her pets.
With an eternal smile that speaks for itself, this sweet and kind soul, known as the "Miss University of Florida" in 1953, Helen Jean Kiekhaefer Wimberly, was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Nov. 8, 1933, to Carl and Freda Kiekhaefer.
Carl was the inventor of the Mercury Outboard Engine, and the developer of the Mercury Outboard Motor Corporation, but most of all he was a proud father. And being the motor enthusiast he was, he even had a race car built in honor of Helen's Florida reign for the Pan American Road Race in 1953.
After racing Helen's car in Mexico City, Mexico, Helen's father would go on to become the first major national sponsor to NASCAR (excluding automotive related companies), and become a two time NASCAR championship owner.
Helen's 1953 reign, was a significant year for the University of Florida, as it was the University's 1st centennial (100 year anniversary).
In addition to her collegiate activities, Helen loved the water (a passion she shared with her father), and soon found herself an avid skier. She even landed herself a role skiing for the famed Aqua Maids Troupe at Cypress Gardens, Florida, where she participated in many ski shows.
Helen's water skills also landed her roles in several films, and TV programs, including the MGM classic movie, "Easy to Love," with Esther Williams.
******
Helen grew up in Cedarburg, where she started elementary school and later attended Cedarburg High School between 1948 and 1952. She was an energetic student and popular with her classmates, participating in many events with the Cedarburg High School Band, the Drum and the Bugle Corps, the Melletone singers and chorus. She was also a cheerleader and was prom queen in her junior year.
After high school she left Wisconsin and attended the University of Florida, from 1952 to 1956, where she majored in commercial art with a degree in fine arts. Later, she attended the University Medical School, where she trained as a registered nurse in 1967. Helen was very active at the university, being a football cheerleader and Miss University of Florida in 1953. She settled in Gainesville and engaged in painting, exhibiting many of her paintings in Sarasota and Gainesville. Helen married her football hero and adopted a son who grew up in Florida.
Later, Helen and her son moved to Bedford, Va., where she joined Legacy Outreach. She could express her creativity as well as providing a secure family-like setting for her son. She became interested in the environment and adopted many animals as pets. Helen developed her talent as a painter and taught art from 1977 until she went back to work as a nurse in 1982. She worked as a nurse at Lynchburg General Hospital and later at Bedford Memorial Hospital, a joint venture between Carilion Clinic and Centra. In 2001 she became a full-time caretaker for her mother, Freda, who had suffered a stroke and was paralyzed on one side, until she passed away in 2005. During that time Helen developed a signature garden and became a landscapist, but in 2004 she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Nevertheless, she continued to paint and take care of her plants and pets: two ragdoll cats, 13 canaries, a gerbil, a chinchilla and her outdoor cats.
On Aug. 26, 2012 she lost her battle with the cancer. She is survived by her son who was living with her in Bedford, her sister and brother and sister-in-law. Helen will always be remembered for her sweet personality, her wonderful smile and as a sensitive, loving and generous person who loved music, nature and animals, especially her pets.
Carl was the inventor of the Mercury Outboard Engine, and the developer of the Mercury Outboard Motor Corporation, but most of all he was a proud father. And being the motor enthusiast he was, he even had a race car built in honor of Helen's Florida reign for the Pan American Road Race in 1953.
After racing Helen's car in Mexico City, Mexico, Helen's father would go on to become the first major national sponsor to NASCAR (excluding automotive related companies), and become a two time NASCAR championship owner.
Helen's 1953 reign, was a significant year for the University of Florida, as it was the University's 1st centennial (100 year anniversary).
In addition to her collegiate activities, Helen loved the water (a passion she shared with her father), and soon found herself an avid skier. She even landed herself a role skiing for the famed Aqua Maids Troupe at Cypress Gardens, Florida, where she participated in many ski shows.
Helen's water skills also landed her roles in several films, and TV programs, including the MGM classic movie, "Easy to Love," with Esther Williams.
******
Helen grew up in Cedarburg, where she started elementary school and later attended Cedarburg High School between 1948 and 1952. She was an energetic student and popular with her classmates, participating in many events with the Cedarburg High School Band, the Drum and the Bugle Corps, the Melletone singers and chorus. She was also a cheerleader and was prom queen in her junior year.
After high school she left Wisconsin and attended the University of Florida, from 1952 to 1956, where she majored in commercial art with a degree in fine arts. Later, she attended the University Medical School, where she trained as a registered nurse in 1967. Helen was very active at the university, being a football cheerleader and Miss University of Florida in 1953. She settled in Gainesville and engaged in painting, exhibiting many of her paintings in Sarasota and Gainesville. Helen married her football hero and adopted a son who grew up in Florida.
Later, Helen and her son moved to Bedford, Va., where she joined Legacy Outreach. She could express her creativity as well as providing a secure family-like setting for her son. She became interested in the environment and adopted many animals as pets. Helen developed her talent as a painter and taught art from 1977 until she went back to work as a nurse in 1982. She worked as a nurse at Lynchburg General Hospital and later at Bedford Memorial Hospital, a joint venture between Carilion Clinic and Centra. In 2001 she became a full-time caretaker for her mother, Freda, who had suffered a stroke and was paralyzed on one side, until she passed away in 2005. During that time Helen developed a signature garden and became a landscapist, but in 2004 she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Nevertheless, she continued to paint and take care of her plants and pets: two ragdoll cats, 13 canaries, a gerbil, a chinchilla and her outdoor cats.
On Aug. 26, 2012 she lost her battle with the cancer. She is survived by her son who was living with her in Bedford, her sister and brother and sister-in-law. Helen will always be remembered for her sweet personality, her wonderful smile and as a sensitive, loving and generous person who loved music, nature and animals, especially her pets.
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