Obituary of Norma Jane Helsper

Norma Jane Helsper Born in Itasca, Illinois, February 16, 1952, to Melvin W. Helsper and Betty Ellis Helsper. Norma died of cancer on June 18, 2020, in Ithaca, NY. She is survived by her husband, Marshall Thrailkill of Ithaca, NY, her daughter Lena Gay Thrailkill Helsper of Waverly, NY, her mother Betty Helsper of Schaumburg, IL, her sister Marjorie Helsper of Bartlett, IL, her brother Daniel Helsper of Anamosa, IA, her uncle Walter Ellis of Marcell, MN, many cousins and countless friends. Norma grew up on a family compound in Schaumburg where she was educated by fantastic teachers and nurtured by her extended family. She received her BA at the University of Illinois and Masters and Doctorate degrees at the University of Texas at Austin. At age 17, Norma was chosen as a foreign exchange student and spent three months living with the family of Dr. Fernando Filippini in Rosario, Argentina. The experience launched her lifelong love of the Spanish language. She studied in Barcelona during her junior year in college and later managed to visit her foreign exchange siblings in Argentina as well as people in Ecuador and Peru who had spent time with her family in the States. She also visited Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Costa Rica and took a mission trip to Guatemala with the First Unitarian Society of Ithaca. She had a 30+ year career as a professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies at SUNY Cortland. The highlight of her career was taking groups of students to Mexico over winter break and watching the dawning of awareness within them that there was more than one way to see the world. She retired due to poor health. Norma believed that every student should have a study abroad experience and, for that reason, she established the Helsper Family Study Abroad scholarship at SUNY Cortland. Memorials may be sent to this fund at the SUNY Cortland College Foundation, PO Box 2000, SUNY Cortland, Cortland, NY 13045. Her cremains will be scattered at Hazel's Backyard, a place of peaceful contemplation. A celebration of her life will be arranged at a later date.