The Hilpert family
Helena Christina Hilpert
November 23, 1885 – January 12, 1978
Helena Christina Hilpert, known as Helen, was born on November 23, 1885, on the family farm in Centralia. Her father, David August, was 57 and her mother, Magdalena, was 43.
- Parents
- David August Hilpert & Magdalena Hilpert
- Spouse
- Herbert Clyde Schaefer
Married January 20, 1906 - Children
- One child; name not yet listed in this biography.
She married Herbert Clyde Schaefer on January 20, 1906, in El Paso, Texas. They had one child. Helen died in Denver on January 12, 1978, at age 92.
Her middle name may have honored David August’s sister, Christina.
Hannah and Helen were sisters. Hannah married Fred Schaefer; Helen married Fred’s nephew, Herbert Clyde Schaefer.
Helen and Herb helped bring Otto and Milly together. In Eileen’s foreword, Herb encouraged Milly to visit Helen in Centralia, and Helen encouraged Milly to send photographs to her unmarried brother Otto.
Places in a Life
Follow recorded birthplaces and homes through the years. Numbers connect the map to dated records; gold marks a birthplace. Markers show approximate towns or regions, not exact houses. A recorded year does not establish an uninterrupted stay.
Helena Christina Hilpert
Dated entries correspond to the numbered places. Enable JavaScript to select entries and zoom.
Profile explicitly gives birth on the family farm in Centralia. Marker precision: town area; farm sites are not pinpointed.
Source for this place
El Paso wedding in 1906, Denver death in 1978, and family visits do not establish a dated home. The foreword says Helen was visiting family in Centralia, so that visit must not be relabeled residence.
Present-day coastline: Natural Earth. Historical place names are retained in the records. The map and dated list also remain available without JavaScript.
Otto’s sibling
Family connections
Otto · Reinhold Hilpert · Selma Anna Hilpert · Phillip Henrich Hilpert · Elizabeth Hedwig Hilpert · Pauline Magdalena Hilpert · Hannah Hilpert Schaefer
Photographs and memories
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All related album pages (32)
- The Hilpert family outside their log house in 1892
- The Hilpert family, taken July 10, 1892
- About 1897: The Hilpert girls: Pauline, Helen, Hannah, Hattie and Selma.
- Helen, about 1897, around age twelve.
- Helen and Herbert on their 65th wedding anniversary, 1971.
- Otto, Milly and Helena on the Skookumchuck, 1916.
- Helena, Otto, and Anita Chance at the Hilpert farm in 1916.
- Helena Schaefer and Otto Hilpert
- Pauline and Helen taken at Teeters’ after Paulina broke her ankle at OakView.
- Helen, Milly, and Selma Teeter. Schaefer Park sit in early 1920’s.
- 1920: Helen (Hilpert) Schaefer.
- Friend & wife, Helen, Mrs. Schummer, and Grandma Hilpert. 1921.
- About 1921! Helen Schaefer, Lona Thorlakson holding son Kryl, Sig Thorlakson, Bill Wagner and Little Lona Thorlakson.
- Aug. 1926: Selma, Helena, Reinhold, Hannah, Otto, Pauline, Phillip, Hattie.
- Aug. 1926: Grandma, Aunt Pauline, Helen, Hattie & Hannah. (Hilpert sisters.
- Rec. Xmas 1929: Pauline Reece, Helen Schaefer, Selma Wagner, Hattie Teeter, Hannah Schaefer and Grandma Hilpert.
- At Otto & Milly’s home, July 1930. Herb Schaefer, Milly, Lillian Gavic, Reinhold & Otto Hilpert., Ma & Pa Dortzbach, Carl Gavic, Al Honore, Hattie & Al Roland (teachers from California) Mr. & Mrs. Schaefer (Herb’s parents, Bob Teeter & Hattie, Helen Honore, Helen Schaefer, Eileen & Albert Honore.
- At Otto & Milly’s home, July 1930. Herb Schaefer, Milly, Lillian Gavic, Reinhold & Otto Hilpert., Ma & Pa Dortzbach, Carl Gavic, Al Honore, Hattie & Al Roland (teachers from California) Mr. & Mrs. Schaefer (Herb’s parents, Bob Teeter & Hattie, Helen Honore, Helen Schaefer, Eileen & Albert Honore.
- Aug. 1930: Phillip, Hattie, Grandma Hilpert, Helen, Otto & Selma.
- 1930 Helen Schaefer, Hannah & Hilpert Schaefer.
- About 1933: Herb Schaefer, Kryl Thorlakson, Selma Teeter Thorson, Aunt Pauline, Bill Wagner, Helen Schaefer, Selma Wagner, Lona Thorlakson, Bill & Marjorie Thorson & Dick Thorlakson.
- 1936: Herbert Schaefer, Gus and Lona (Pitzer Thorlakson) Goodman Lona Thorlakson, Catherine Pitzer (Carl’s wife) Helen Schaefer and Carl Pitzer, in Seattle.
- Grandma Dortzbach, Otto, Helen and Herbert Schaefer, Milly and Grandpa Dortzbach, about 1936.
- 1937: Aunt Helen Schaefer holding Honey Boy, Catherine Pitzer, Selma Wagner, Pauline Reece, & Hattie Teeter.
- 1937: Reinhold Hilpert, Helen Schaefer, Pa Dortzbach’s back & Eileen.
- 1937: Reinhold Hilpert, Helen Schaefer, Eileen, Grandpa Dortzbach’s back and Otto hiding.
- 1943: Xmas tree, Helen Schaefer and Honey Boy.
- At Uncle Otto’s--Centralia, WA. Sept. 19, 1947. Rheinhold, Otto, Selma, Pauline and Helen.
- On the farm, afternoon Sept. 19, 1947. Lilla Hilpert, Selma Wagner Otto, Rheinhold & Milly Hilpert, Pauline Reece and Helen Schaefer.
- At Aunt Hattie’s place--Gig Harbor, WAsh. Sept. 16, 1947. Left to right: Selma Wagner, Pauline Reece, Hattie Teeter, Helen Schaefer.
- On the farm. Afternoon of September 19, 1947. Milly & Otto, Selma Wagner, Reinhold Hilpert, Pauline Reece, Lilla Hilpert, and bending over is Helen Schaefer calling Skippy.
- Sept. 1947: At Aunt Hatties place in Gig Harbor, WA. Hattie Teeter, Hannah Schaefer, Selma Wagner, Helen Schaefer.
Stories and captions drawn from Eileen Townsend’s family album.