Terrace Paver Commemorates a Lifetime Union
John and Helen Wick met at UW-Madison and were married for more than 68 years. Photo courtesy of Jeff Wick.
On November 1, 2004, 29 family members gathered at the doors of the Paul Bunyan Room in the Memorial Union. They were celebrating the 60th anniversary of a meeting that would truly leave a legacy.
John and Helen were both first-year students at UW-Madison when their paths crossed on a Wednesday night in 1944. Helen was volunteering as a hostess at a canteen in the Paul Bunyan Room. While greeting people at the door, Helen caught the eye of John, a participant in the Navy V-12 program who had the night off.
The pair met in the Paul Bunyan Room in 1944. Photo courtesy of News-Sickle-Arrow.
According to John and Helen’s son, Jeff, when John stopped to talk to the young volunteer she gently ushered him away. But their story doesn’t end there. “On Friday night, Dad and a couple of his buddies were out on the lookout for Mom. He found her at the Union, asked her out, and that was that,” Jeff said.
The two were an item by 1945, and married by 1947. “From that point on,” Jeff said, “the two stories merged.” Jeff, the oldest of the couple’s five children, was born in 1948. There are now 14 grandchildren, many of whom are UW-Madison alumni, and dozens of great-grandchildren.
“Dad has always been very conscious of this concept of ‘clan.’ Fifty people at this point from that original two,” Jeff said. Helen and one of Jeff’s sisters-in-law have since passed away, but memories of them live on in the big family they left.
Last year during the paver campaign, Jeff decided to order one commemorating his parent’s marriage and legacy, which is now installed in the newly redesigned Terrace. “Very, very special connections here at the Union,” Jeff said, as he considers the Union one of the places that has been a part of his life, all his life.
Jeff noted that his parent’s story highlights the timeless importance of education. “The whole family story that started here–education has been woven into that across generations,” Jeff said.
Proceeds from the paver campaign go to the renovations underway at Union South and the Memorial Union, which will ensure that future generations have opportunities to gather, socialize and learn.
A photo of Jeff’s paver, dedicated to his parents John and Helen, is below:
