Helen Lahey Fulton

Helen Lahey Fulton - Helen Lahey Fulton, 88, died peacefully in her sleep at home in Bodega Bay, California, on Wednesday, February 20. The cause was heart disease. Helen is survived by her sister, Dorothy Lahey Brown of Nederland, Colorado, and brother, Thomas Lahey of Wichita, Kansas; her five children, Mark and his wife, Nancy, of Folsom, Mike of San Francisco, Dan, of Wilson, Wyoming, Tom, of Martinez, California, and Kathleen, of Brighton, Colorado; her five grandchildren, Dan, of Capitola, Lucy and her husband Jeff, Molly and her husband, Jason, of Carlsbad, Marisa, of San Diego, and Scot, of Folsom, California; and her three great-grandchildren, Gavin and Ryan Patterson, and Jake Morrison, all of Carlsbad, California; and many, many cherished nephews and nieces. A Mass of Thanksgiving and a Remembrance will be celebrated at St. Teresa of Avila Church in Bodega, California on Saturday, March 8, 2008, at 3:00 p.m. The Funeral Director is Parent-Sorensen of Petaluma, California. Donations to St. Teresa Restoration Fund, Rancho Bodega Historical Society, or American Heart Association are preferred. Helen Lahey was born on December 7, 1919, in Wichita, Kansas, the third in an Irish Catholic family of five children. She lived in Wichita and in Washington D.C. with her family, graduating from Wichitaâ??s Cathedral High School in 1937. She was an accomplished equestrian at that age, riding show horses in competitive events throughout the Midwest. She was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority in her days at University of Michigan, graduating in 1942. Helen Lahey married Robert Carroll Fulton in Wichita, Kansas, in 1942. She accompanied him to Columbia, South Carolina, where he was enlisted in the officerâ??s candidate school of the Army Air Corps. In the following years, Helen and Robert Fulton raised their five children in Kansas City, Missouri, and Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota, as his career with Archer Daniels Midland progressed. Helen received her Masterâ??s Degree from Kansas University, and became a member of the faculty at University of Minnesota in 1962. She was a professor of special education at Minnesota, and later Ohio State University, teaching the teachers of the deaf. She was known for her client-oriented teaching, often bringing deaf friends into the class to tell the students what was helpful in their teaching. She corresponded for many years--in French--with Dr. Jean Piaget, the founder of the psychology of child development. In 1968 Dr. Piaget came from his native Geneva, Switzerland, specifically to meet Helen, where he addressed the faculty and student body at the University of Minnesota.