Roehlke, Helen J. (1931-)

Family Background

Roehlke was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Enriqueta and William lackson. She was raised in a household with two working parents; her mother did office work and bookkeeping and her father was an accountant and tax consultant. She was the older of two children, but was raised as an only child due to the 15-year time span between her birth and that of her younger sister, Ginny.

Roehlke met her husband, Art, during her junior year at Carleton College, and they married in the summer of 1952 following their college graduation. They moved to Columbia, Missouri in 1955 and have lived in that area for over 50 years. They have three sons, Kurt, Kent, and Adam, and three grandchildren, lake, Lauren, and Brennen.

Educational Training Background

Throughout her elementary and secondary education, Roehlke was a good student and performed well academically. Her mother was an avid reader and always had books at home, so Roehlke learned to love reading at an early age. She received a great deal of encouragement and support for attending college from her parents and teachers as well as from a great aunt who was particularly influential in directing her toward higher education. This great aunt bought Roehlke books on literature and poetry when she was growing [Page 376]up and discussed them with her, sparking Roehlke's early interests in this area. As a woman who was independent and who had traveled the world, her great aunt also helped to nurture Roehlke's career goals as a young woman.

At the suggestion of a young female physical education teacher in high school, Roehlke explored small liberal arts colleges in the Midwest for her college education. She received a number of scholarships from many of these schools and chose to attend Carleton College. As the first person in her family to attend college, Roehlke embarked on her postsecondary education at the young age of 16 and began as an art major. She received a bachelor's degree in 1952 with English literature as her major and psychology as her minor area of study.

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