Helen S. Christman

Helen S. Christman passed away peacefully in her Pacific Palisades home April 1 at 97 years of age.

She was born Helen Mary Sedlachek in Superior, Wisconsin on Sept. 23, 1917, the second of three children.

Helen’s father was a building contractor who disliked working during the long winters in Superior and in 1920, the family moved to Los Angeles and lived on Saturn Street near Washington and La Brea. Helen graduated from L.A. High School in 1935 then graduated from UCLA in 1939, majoring in elementary education.

Helen then taught in the L.A. Municipal School System until 1950 and was a training teacher for USC. Included in her education was a summer 1941 term at the University of Hawaii, returning to LA just three months before the Pearl Harbor attack.

Helen married Matthias V. “Chris” Christman, a mechanical engineer at Douglas Aircraft and later Hughes Aircraft, on July 29, 1943. They bought a lot in Windsor Hills in 1949, Helen’s father built their house, and they moved in in April 1950, one month before their first child was born.

When Helen and Chris started a family, she retired from teaching to be a full-time housewife and they raised three sons John, Paul and Tom.

In 1965 the family moved to Pacific Palisades, where Helen and Chris lived the rest of their lives.

Helen was a dedicated and hard-working parent, and between classmate playdates and the neighborhood children, extra children were a common sight at her house.

Helen actively participated in community and school activities involving her children, including being a Cub Scout den mother for all three sons; helping with their Boy Scout advancements, camping, and Eagle projects; working in the Ladera Little League food stand; and serving in multiple offices in the PTAs of Windsor Hills Elementary School and Paul Revere Junior High School, including two years as PTA President at Paul Revere.

In 1977, Helen was in the first group of five women selected to become volunteer docents and lecturers at the J. Paul Getty Villa in Malibu. She served as a volunteer usher in the LA Coliseum for the 1984 Olympics, greatly enjoying that experience.

To extend her art knowledge, she spent the summer of 1992 at the University of Oxford, England, spending countless research hours at the University’s Bodleian Library.

When help was needed at the newly opened Getty Center, Helen transferred there and was recognized in 2002 for 25 years of service to the Getty Museums. Helen was also a dedicated member of the Park View Women’s Club while living in Windsor Hills, then the Pacific Palisades Woman’s Club after moving there and of the Assistance League during the 1990s.

Helen’s love of travel instigated yearly family road trips around the continental U.S., plus multiple trips to Hawaii. After her sons graduated from high school, Helen and Chris went on many trips to Europe and Asia, but especially to Europe to trace family lineage.

She continued traveling with son Tom after Chris passed in 1988, with some trips including her sons’ families. Her last trip was to Hawaii in 2005. She continued to live in her house in Pacific Palisades until her passing.

Helen is survived by her three sons John, Paul and Tom; six grandchildren Grant, Daniel, Elizabeth, Vincent, John and Julianna; and three great-grandchildren Emma, Julia and Violet.