They met at the door of the Paul Bunyan Room of the UW Memorial Union on Wednesday evening, November 1, 1944, two UW freshmen. Helen Ann Wood was a beautiful nursing student from Neenah, WI volunteering as the greeter for a USO canteen for the military. John Finlayson Wick of Foxboro, WI (near Superior) was in Navy uniform as a cadet in the V12 engineering program, out on an extra night of liberty gained as a member of the Navy choir. That Friday evening John found Helen in a line checking her coat. He talked to her and made a first date and they built a wonderful life together, ending more than 71 years later in the early hours of June 12, 2016 when Helen was brought to her heavenly home by her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Helen Ann was born on July 16th 1926 in Appleton, WI to Robert W. "Bob" Wood, who had grown up in Oshkosh, and Maude Millar Wood, from Superior. Helen and her brother Bill grew up at 304 E. Forest Ave. in Neenah, and she graduated as salutatorian of her high school class. She was a most accomplished pianist and organist, despite problems with her eyesight (retinitis pigmentosa) that were apparent as tunnel vision and night blindness since a child.

Helen and John were married in Neenah on a blistering hot day, August 23, 1947. They soon moved into a 16'x22' shack that John built in an apple orchard on a farm out near Verona. Helen's nursing career ended a year later with the birth of their first child, Jeff, and Helen began a new career of mothering, teaching and witnessing for the Lord. John continued as a graduate student in the Commerce School, and daughter Jane was born while they lived in a Madison apartment. Margaret was born while they lived at Badger Village. After three years of civil engineering education, John completed a master's degree in finance and accounting, and considerable work toward a doctorate, but ended those studies when he decided he wanted to start his own earthmoving business. With that, they moved to John's family's farm at Foxboro, where he farmed with his dad and used a 1948 Jeep to pull a New Holland hay baler, doing custom baling for other farmers. A fourth child, John II was born while they lived at Foxboro.

At the Minnesota State Fair in 1954, John talked to the owner of a company building pole barns. He was familiar with that form of construction, but hadn't seen anyone make a commercial enterprise of it. Here was a way to apply his engineering skills, business education and desire to start his own business. The first Wick Building was built on the Mel Bickford farm near Prairie du Sac in January 1955, and in February, John loaded Helen and their four kids into that 1948 Jeep, lashed their possessions onto a farm wagon and moved to the rented Dunlap Stone House in Mazomanie. Their fifth child, Bob, was born two years later. (After 11 years of renting, a Dunlap daughter asked John to buy the house to settle their dad's estate while he was still living. John immediately accepted her offer and put the house in Helen's name because she completely managed the house and household.)
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They were two high-capacity people, Helen and John Wick, and the 20 years after the 1955 move were hugely busy, raising five children and growing a business that at one point had thousands of employees and operations all over the country. Helen was on the Board from the beginning, and after their children left home, attended a great many business meetings herself. But she also brought the Good News to dozens of kids over the years.

In the years from 1974 through 1993, 14 grandchildren were born. All grew up in this area, and there were many celebrations in boisterous family gatherings. Nine grandchildren are married, one will marry this summer, and 17 "great-grands" have been born. What began as two people is now a clan of 50 here on earth and two more, Helen and her daughter-in-law Cheryl, already in Heaven. They are, in order of Helen and John's children's birth, by family: Jeff and Ann Wick, John and Keesha Wick, Barb and Cody Statz and Lila; Jane and Darrell Kolstad, Derek and Sonja Kolstad, Julie and Tony Koehn and Max and AJ, Bob and Shannon Kolstad and Brendon and Hudson; Margaret and Chris Arenas, Katharine and Danny Luong and Dylan and Jacob; John II and the late Cheryl Wick, Jessica and Donnie Taylor and Rachel and Emily, Angus Wick, Bill and Krissy Wick and Wilson, Liam, Lincoln and John, Johanna Wick, Mary Wick; Bob and Lori Wick, Tim and Andrea Wick and Ella, Josslyn, Finlay and Elizabeth, Matt Wick and Abigail Wick.

Helen and John traveled together to business meetings all over the US; to Cuba on a first vacation and cruise then to Puerto Rico, later to the Caribbean numerous times; to Alaska numerous times; to Canada, Scotland and London where John researched his Finlayson Highland Scot roots and to a Finlayson reunion in New Zealand; to Europe, including the Norwegian coast where John's Wick grandparents had emigrated from in the 1880s, Normandy, England and Scotland; and in later years, many thousands of miles in their motor home.

Helen's memory began to fail several years ago, and she was in Heartland Country Village in Black Earth from June, 2012 until her last hospitalization. Through that time, John was there twice before lunch and again before supper almost every day, and he took her out to lunch on a regular schedule with family and friends three days a week and again after Sunday church, then back to the house for the afternoon before returning her to the nursing home.

Helen and John's children wish to acknowledge the staff at Heartland Country Village, Dr. Janelle Hupp and especially our dad, for the tender and attentive care he gave mom in her last years.

Visitation, the funeral and a luncheon will all be at Curtiss Street Bible Fellowship in Mazomanie, with visitation from 4PM to 7PM this Friday, June 17, the funeral at 11AM on Saturday, June 18, followed by burial at the Mazomanie Cemetery, then back to church for the luncheon.