Crystal Helmke Lokken

McFarland- Crystal (Carol) Harriet Helmke Lokken entered her eternal rest March 15, 2010 at the age of 80, having fully embraced the earthly path she both encountered and actively sought.  While her life began and ended in McFarland, Crystal spent most of her adult life in California. There, she joyfully raised her family, creatively taught school, passionately expressed herself in the arts and copiously began research on the Vikings, an avocation that focused her intellect and interest. Active until her sudden passing, she traveled the world extensively in her later years to celebrate that part of her heritage.  Born August 24, 1929 to Dorothy and Chester Helmke, Crystal was a twin to Corrine Helmke Niedenthal and a sister to Audrey Helmke Endres and the late Dolores Helmke Fisher. They remained close despite the miles between their adult lives. Known as Carol throughout her childhood and early adulthood, Crystal reclaimed her birth name for her 60th birthday. Crystal was predeceased in 1991 by her husband of 39 years, the Rev. Sigurd Thomas Lokken, a civil engineer called to faith as a Lutheran Minister. They met as students at University of Wisconsin at Madison, and married in 1952. Having earned a bachelor's degree in art in 1951, Crystal taught briefly in Milltown,Wisc., before the couple began married life as pastor and pastor's wife in Moscow, Idaho. They started a family and settled in Berkeley, Calif., where Sigurd was Lutheran campus minister at the University of California. Crystal, who in 1969 earned a masters degree in education from that university, was a teacher in the Berkeley school system for 26 years, starting with 5th graders and spending most of her teaching years with middle school art students. She was a board member of the American Art Education Association, a position that enabled her to travel as well as extend her artistic expression.  Ever active, Crystal had many hobbies and interests, such as attending opera and music concerts, exploring cultural attractions, and dancing and performing with the Nordahl Grieg Leikkarring Scandinavian troupe.  Her home welcomed extended family and her genealogical research extended the breadth of that family. Crystal's early interest in travel blossomed into a lifetime passion, whether taking the long route from California to Wisconsin by way of the Yucatan peninsula or by visiting her children, who settled in Italy and Texas. In her later years, tracing the path of the Vikings took her to Scandinavia often and to the High Atlantic Islands of Svalbard, Iceland, Greenland, the Faroes, Orkneys, Shetland and Hebredies. She used her findings to present lectures.  In 2006, at the age of 75, Crystal realized a long dream to return to McFarland and the home in which she had been raised, which has been in the family since 1900. She quickly and deeply involved herself in the McFarland Historical Society, for which she served as a board member and handled such duties as Pioneer Day, collecting farm stories to share, and giving village tours. She lived to see the McFarland Historical Society successfully acquire the Larson House for a permanent museum and helped the organization reach that goal. She also contributed articles on McFarland history to the Thistle Newspaper.  As an artist as well as an art teacher, Crystal expressed herself in oils and watercolors, occasionally enjoying an exhibition of her works.  She also was accomplished at jewelry making, silk screening and knitting, all endeavors she shared with her children and grandchildren. Her home, whether in Berkeley or back in McFarland, featured a lush garden in which flowers and vegetables grew. Tending these small crops delighted and sustained her, as did enjoying the fresh outdoors in which they grew. Meanwhile, she was an avid (and adventuresome) cook, using ingredients she cultivated in her garden as well as more unusual recipes. Curious about the world and independent in her pursuit of understanding it, Crystal amassed friends along the way and long maintained contact with them. As letters gave way to modern forms of staying connected, she quickly mastered technology to sustain her role as family chronicler and communicator. Moving back to her childhood home in 2006 allowed her to reconnect with friends and family, many of whom attended an 80th birthday celebration she shared with her twin sister last August.  In passing, Crystal's loving and devoted survivors include son Roald Thorson Lokken of Houston, his wife Cynthia (CAL) and children Erica Meade, Neil Thorson and Elaine Maryanne Lokken; daughter Anne Sigrid Lokken of Florence Italy, her husband Andrea Dell'Ira; and Mary Kristel Lokken and son Andy Bendick Geppetti, also of Florence Italy. She was predeceased by her sister Dolores Helmke Fisher and is survived by her twin sister Corrine Niedenthal of Chicago and Audrey Endres of Marco Island, Fla. Her score of nieces and nephews also mourn her passing. A celebration of Crystal's life will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 20, 2010 at McFarland Lutheran Church, 5529 Marsh Road, the same church in which she was baptized, confirmed and married. A reception follows the service. Internment will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the McFarland Historical Society's Larson House project, PO Box 94, McFarland, WI 53558.