Helen Sonnichsen

Helen Mariam Williams Sonnichsen died at Prosser Memorial Hospital on October 26, 2010.  She was born to Elmer G. Williams and Hazel Ellis Williams in San Francisco on August 17, 1918.  She grew up in Tacoma with a younger sister Patricia (Patsy) and a much younger brother E.G. Jr. (Ozzie).  Her father was a successful businessman and her mother was a homemaker and a classical pianist.

Helen graduated from Stadium High School in 1936.  She completed her B.A. in Spanish at Washington State College in 1941.  She was a lifetime member of Sigma Kappa Sorority.  While at WSC, she met and fell in love with John Christian Sonnichsen of Waterville WA.  John and Helen were married on February 21, 1941 in Tacoma.  John and Helen had three sons: John (Jack) Jr. (1942), Tim (1947) and Ben (1948).

After the wedding, John and Helen made their first home in Olympia.   During the war years, engineering construction jobs on the west coast kept them moving from San Francisco to Canada.  Following World War II, the family made their home in Orting and later in Burien in 1952 when John went to work for the Army Corps of Engineers.  They lived in Livorno Italy on a two-year assignment from 1959-61 and were able to attend the 1960 Rome Summer Olympics and the Passion Play in Oberammergau.  They also visited the Sonnichsen family farm in Schleswig-Holstein.  They returned to their home in Normandy Park.  John retired from the Corps in 1974 after more than 20 years of service.  After living briefly in Sumner, John and Helen moved to Prosser where he worked for the Benton County Engineering Department until John fully retried in 1982.

Helen kept busy as a homemaker and mom, community volunteer and friend.  She was involved in several Highline School District PTA’s, Cub Scouts, Garden Club and worked as a school library volunteer.  Over the last 40 years, she diligently studied her family’s genealogy.  She became a skilled genealogist, tracing family roots back to the British Isles.  She was very proud of her ancestry and was able to visit their homelands in 1993.

Helen loved spending time with her ever growing family.  She and John also enjoyed camping, fishing at Twin Lakes, clamming and vacations on the Washington and Oregon coasts, trips to Hawaii, and attending their grandchildren’s sporting events in Prosser.  After John’s retirement, they went on 16 cruises with family and friends, the first being a fiftieth wedding anniversary cruise through the Panama Canal.  John and Helen were loyal WSU Alumni and attended numerous social gatherings and football games.