Helen C. Wightman

Helen died Saturday, June 24, 2006 at Prescott Samaritan Village in Prescott, Arizona.  She was born November 9, 1914 in Los Angeles, California; the daughter of Louis and Louise (Beddome) Calfas.  Helen was 91 years old.   Helen was a longtime weaver and was a member of the Handweavers Guild of America and the Mountain Spinners and Weavers.  She was also a member of the Mothers Club of Prescott and the garden club. She was a very active person all of her life.  She loved music and played the violin in her high school orchestra at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles.  She had season tickets for over 25 years to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Theater and the Greek Theater.  She retired from Airesearch after working at the factory for 19 years.  She went back to school and finished a secretarial course and worked for the Los Angeles County Welfare Department for ten years. Helen was a very creative person, and she loved weaving rugs and scarves for her family and friends.  She attended weaving conferences all over the United States and Canada. She was an avid fisherwoman.  She fished all of her life with family and friends in the Pacific Ocean and Baja, Calif.    She was an avid gardener, and this was a lifelong passion.  She especially loved iris and roses.  Helen traveled all over the world to pursue her many interests.  She traveled with many weaving groups to New Zealand, Guatemala, Scotland, and Ireland. She is survived by son John (Joanne Wightman) of Santa Barbara, Calif.; daughters, Anita L. German of Prescott and Linda (Noel Douglas) of Merced, Calif.; granddaughter Nikki (Steve Pritchard) of Prescott Valley; grandsons, Edward Dorsey, John Wightman, and Eric Wightman; great granddaughter Christina Giusa Pritchard of Prescott Valley; brother-in-law George Needham; and niece Laurie Needham.   She is also survived by her longtime friend of 80 years, Olga Seely of Fremont, Calif. She is preceded in death by her husband Charles Wightman, son David Wightman, sisters Contance Needham and Ida Pello, and niece Eleanor Terrazza. Services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday, June 29 at Ruffner Wakelin Funeral Home, 303 S. Cortez St., Prescott.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Helen?s name to Miss Kitty of Prescott.