The widow of retired copy editor (and
assistant state editor and TV, movie and night club reviewer) Art Cullison and
his bride of seven decades, Helen Louise Hagen Cullison, passed away Sunday,
Dec. 29.
She was living in an assisted living
community in Erlanger, Ky., near their son, Dick, who resides in Fort Mitchell,
Ky. Another son, Robert, lives in Hopkins, Minnesota.
Art, who retired in 1985 after 36 years
at the BJ, died in 2012.
The Cullisons were avid bridge players.
Helen’s obituary:
Helen Cullison |
Helen
Louise Cullison (nee Hagen), formerly of Akron, died in Erlanger, KY December
29, 2013 at the age of 92. For many years, she was the president of the Akron
Area League of Women Voters, where she arranged and moderated numerous
candidates’ forums, which were frequently televised in Akron.
She
taught American Government at Copley (Ohio) High School for 17 years. Her
annual lecture on civil liberties was so well respected the school
administration turned it into an assembly so the entire school could be
involved. She was the faculty advisor to the student newspaper, the Copley
Circle. Several of her students went on to careers in journalism.
In
1999, she was awarded the Judith Resnik Pioneer Award by the Women’s History
Project for “a woman who has paved the way for others to follow.” While in
college, she was the second female editor of Akron University’s newspaper, the
Buchtelite.
She
met her husband Art while both were working on the paper. They wed in 1942,
while Art was on a weekend pass from the US Army Air Corps. He shipped out to
Africa one month later.
Art
and Helen Louise shared a room in a nursing home in 2012, the last year of his
life. Helen Louise survived her parents, Hans and Adeline Hagen and her brother
Robert.
She
leaves her sister in law Keta Hagen of Phoenix, her brother Bruce (Joan) Hagen
of Brecksville, two sons Richard (Veronica) Cullison of Fort Mitchell, and
Robert Cullison of Hopkins, MN; grandchildren Robert (Renee) Cullison Junior of
Copley OH, Steven (Lisa) Cullison, Jeffrey (Carrie) Cullison of Minneapolis,
Andrew (Sarah) Cullison of Fredonia, NY, Rachael (Zachary) Fait of Fort
Mitchell, and four great grand-sons.
Visitation
will be at the Billow funeral home 85 N. Miller Rd., Akron OH from 1-2 PM
Saturday, January 18, 2014. A memorial ceremony will follow. Contributions may
be given to the Akron Area League of Women Voters 380 Mull Ave. Akron, OH
44320, or Summit County United Way 90 N. Prospect St. Akron, OH 44304-1273.
Online condolences can be made at www.linnemannfuneralhomes.com
.
The BJ story on Helen’s passing:
By Carol Biliczky
Beacon Journal staff writer
Beacon Journal staff writer
Like many women’s organizations, the
Akron Area League of Women Voters sniffed the winds of change in 1985.
“Now, we realize that every woman
does not have time to sit down after work and pound out a letter to her
congressman,” longtime league member Helen Cullison told the Beacon Journal at
the time about why the group was sending pre-printed materials to politicians.
Mrs. Cullison, a former president of
the local league of women voters, died Sunday in Erlanger, Ky., after a short
illness. She was 92.
She was well-known in the Akron area
for leading the league, moderating public debates and for 17 years as an American
government teacher in Copley-Fairlawn schools.
When Akron Mayor Edward O. Erickson
launched an interactive television series in 1962 to tackle the community’s
biggest problems, he called on Mrs. Cullison to moderate the first forum on the
city’s financial condition.
In 1986, Mrs. Cullison helped to
negotiate the details of a league-sponsored debate between then-Akron Mayor Tom
Sawyer and Summit County Prosecutor Lynn Slaby, who were in a contentious race
to replace retiring U.S. Rep. John Seiberling.
She said that working out the many
debate details — from who sat where, to who spoke first, to who asked the
questions, to how many tickets each candidate got — was becoming increasingly
tedious for local organizations like the League.
“My experience goes back to the
1950s,” Mrs. Cullison told the Beacon Journal. “In those days, the candidates
either accepted or rejected the invitation.”
In 1999, Mrs. Cullison received the
Akron Women’s History Project’s Judith Resnik Pioneer Award for paving “the way
for others to follow.”
Born in Akron, she graduated from
Buchtel High and the University of Akron, where she was the second female
editor of the student newspaper, the Buchtelite.
She was preceded in death by her
husband, former Beacon Journal drama, movie, radio and TV critic Art Cullison,
92, in 2012.
The couple’s survivors include sons
Richard of Fort Mitchell, Ky., and Robert Jr. of Hopkins, Minn.; five
grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Visiting hours at the Billow funeral
home in Fairlawn will be from 1 to 2 p.m. Jan. 18. A memorial ceremony will
follow.
Contributions may be made to the
Akron Area League of Women Voters, 380 Mull Ave., Akron, OH 44320 or to the
United Way of Summit County, 90 N. Prospect St., Akron, OH 44304-1273.
No comments:
Post a Comment