Helen Ratchford

May 16, 1916 - May 11, 2010

May 16, 1916 — May 11, 2010 Helen A. Ratchford, 93, of Corvallis died Tuesday, May 11, 2010, at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. Born on May 16, 1916, in Washington, D.C., she was the daughter of Carl William and Hannah Hegge Thompson. Helen was raised in Stoughton, Wis. She graduated from Chicago’s Lutheran Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing in 1936. After working as a registered nurse for three years, she returned to school and graduated from St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn., in 1942, with a bachelor of arts degree in social work. She did graduate work at Columbia University’s New York School of Social Work before joining the U.S. Navy in 1943, where she met her future husband, Paul D. Ratchford, at the Long Beach, Calif., Naval Hospital. While raising her five children in Los Gatos, Calif., Helen helped start an investment club, as well as being active in community and cultural events. She returned to work in the mid-1960s, and worked first at Los Gatos Community Hospital and then at the Santa Clara County Department of Social Services. In 1968, Helen moved to Rochester, Minn., and worked at the Olmsted County Department of Social Services, retiring in 1979 to Santa Cruz, Calif. In 1990, she moved to Corvallis. Her interests included gardening, reading, traveling, and — especially — spending time with family and friends. Helen’s compassion, strength, sense of humor and open-mindedness are a few of the reasons she was a wonderful role model for her family and for many who knew her. Helen was preceded in death by Paul; and her brother, Carl Thompson of Stoughton, Wis. She is survived by her sister, Ruth Thompson Curtiss of Darlington, Wis.; her children, Terese of Rochester, Tim (Ann) of Los Gatos, and Paulette, Peter and Terrel of Corvallis; and grandchildren Lauren and Ivan Batinich of San Jose, Calif., and Hannah and William Ratchford of Los Gatos. Memorial contributions in the name of Helen Ratchford can be made to the Samaritan Health Services Foundation for Samaritan Home Health Services, 3600 N.W. Samaritan Drive, P.O. Box 1068, Corvallis, OR 97339.