OBITUARY FROM FIND-A-GRAVE WEBSITE:

Helen Wallin D'Amico
Birth          9 Jul 1919, Hobart, Lake County, Indiana, USA
Death         23 Oct 2008 (aged 89), Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana, USA
Burial          Burial Details Unknown
Memorial ID    30881620

BLOOMINGTON — Helen Wallin D' Amico died peacefully in the early morning on Oct. 23, 2008, at her home in Bloomington, Indiana.

Born on July 9, 1919, in Hobart, Indiana, to Nellie Bruns and William Wallin, Helen was an only child who led an adventurous and full life. After graduating from Hobart High School, Helen went on to obtain a degree in journalism from Indiana University, Bloomington. During her student days in Bloomington, she worked for Alfred Kinsey, famed sex researcher, when he was still conducting research with insects. A career woman before her time, after graduating from IU she worked for the OSS (Office of Strategic Services — forerunner of the CIA) living in London, Paris, San Francisco and Lisbon, Portugal. After World War II, Helen came back to Bloomington and worked for Kinsey again as an administrative assistant when he was doing his pioneering work on human sexuality.

In 1949, Helen married Louis Anthony D' Amico in Paris, France, where he was completing a Master's at the Sorbonne. They moved to Heidelberg, Germany, where Louis counseled U.S. soldiers after the war concerning educational options. Their first daughter, Antonia (Toni), was born in Germany and then the couple returned to Bloomington, where Louis completed his Ph.D. in educational psychology. Daughters Dawn and Linda were born during this time, and then the family moved to New Orleans, Michigan, and in 1957, to Bethesda, Maryland, where Dr. D' Amico worked for the United States Department of Health Education and Welfare and taught at American University. Helen founded a nursery school in Bethesda and became very interested in progressive education. Son Bill was born in 1961, and in 1964, the family moved back to Bloomington, where Louis was the Director of Research at the school of Education at Indiana University.

In 1967, the marriage ended in divorce. After the divorce, Helen worked as a first-grade teacher at Grandview Elementary and earned her Master's Degree at IU in education. She was an exceptional teacher as evidenced by the fact that many of her students and their families stayed in contact with her over the years. A longtime member of the International Reading Association, Helen enthusiastically encouraged children of all ages to read. After retirement from teaching, she volunteered in elementary schools. Helen engaged in fundraising to offer scholarships for children in the arts and was an active participant of the National Society for Arts and Letters.

Always ahead of her time, Helen embraced nontraditional forms of education, and spent a year teaching in England learning the best practices in progressive education. Her year in England with son Bill also rekindled her passion for world travel. She traveled the far corners of the world every chance she had and circled the globe at least twice. Her daring nature brought her unusual adventures, such as having a whale try to flip over her boat in Alaska and traveling on freighter ships. When Helen retired from teaching in 1985, she began a new career writing articles for the IU News Bureau. As a passionate IU alum, Helen was devoted to supporting the arts and befriending students from other countries. An avid, lifelong reader, Helen always had at least one book in process. She loved to play bridge, garden, swim and do yoga. Though she was born the year before women got the right to vote nationally, Helen believed strongly in democratic values and one of her last acts was to cast a proud vote for the first African-American candidate, Barack Obama.

Helen is survived by daughters Dr. Antonia Demas, Trumansburg, New York; Dr. Dawn Gable, Washington, D.C.; Dr. Linda D' Amico, Winona, Minn.; Bill D' Amico, Ben Lomond, California, and Bloomington, Indiana; grandchildren Dr. Damon Demas, San Jose, California, Ariel Demas, Baltimore, Maryland; Peonia Vaquez- D' Amico, New York, New York; Ezra Vaquez-D' Amico, New York, New York; Solomon Snyder, Bloomington, Indiana; and two great-grandsons, Alex and Theo Demas, San Jose, California. She also had many devoted friends, including special friend Karl Zeigler.

The Herald-Times, Oct 25, 2008

This information and the picture above were obtained from: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/30881620/helen-d'amico. The caption reads: "Helen Wallin D'Amico and Ed Wahl, 2007. Helen was the daughter of Peter (William) and Nellie Wallin."