Our hearts are broken to announce the death of our cherished Mom, Gram, Great Gram, friend, aging model, Helen C. Lichtenberger, on the evening of January 4, 2016.

Helen was born in New York, New York to Karoline (Kroyf) and Albert Schmidt on June 11, 1923. She grew up in Manhattan and married fellow New Yorker, Ellsworth A. Lichtenberger, on October 12, 1946.

As a young woman, Helen enjoyed working as a secretary in NYC. After she and Ells started their family, they moved to Massapequa Park on Long Island, and later to Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. As her sons grew older, Helen returned to secretarial work. She was an amazing Mom, always willing to trek wherever her boys wanted to go. This included a multi-state, camping trip from New Jersey to Colorado in the early Sixties, as well as lots of hiking in the eastern U.S. She was proud to have hiked to the summit of Mt. Katahdin, the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail.

Helen and Ells lived in Tucson, AZ in the early Eighties. They both loved the desert in their back yard and enjoyed swimming as part of their daily routine.

In 1999, they moved to Greeley to be closer to family.

In their later years, Helen and Ells enjoyed family trips to Mexico which included the adult grandchildren and great grandchildren. They traveled extensively in Europe. Their "trip of a lifetime" was an adventure to Egypt, the Pyramids, and a cruise on the Nile in their mid-eighties.

Helen was a life-long oil painter, leaving her family many beautiful works. She loved to crochet, especially gorgeous, ruffled baby blankets. Helen was an avid reader, loving English historical fiction. Helen always stayed current - in her look, in her surroundings, always up on the latest in current world events. Swimming and exercising at the gym were part of her daily routine well into her late eighties.

She loved parties and, two years before she was to turn Ninety, she began planning her party, scoping out possible venues at every restaurant she went to. She indeed had one big bash on her 90th, with family traveling from as far as Florida and Kentucky to be with her. A die-hard Frank Sinatra fan, Helen was blown away when he actually showed up to serenade her and perform for her guests (in the form of Greeley's Rick Blessing)!!

Her husband, Ellsworth, preceded her death on 12/20/14; with great courage and determination, she carried on without him, independently, in their home, until she became ill last October.

Helen is missed by her sons and daughters-in-law Wayne & Marcia Lichtenberger of Denver and Bruce & Janice Lichtenberger of Greeley; her granddaughters and their husbands Kristi & Rick Thomas of Greeley and Kim & Bill Williams of Hebron, KY; her great grandchildren Bryce & Reese Thomas of Greeley, Bailey and Allison Williams of Hebron; Leah Thomas and husband, Pat Moorhead of Loveland and their daughter Cassidy; as well as her sister-in-law, Joan Lichtenberger; nephew and wife, Ken & Beth Lichtenberger, all of Florida; and the nieces and nephews of the Griffin family; friend and helper, Ruth Martinez.

A private family service is to be held.