Helen Marian Trigg, 90, of Lincoln died Tuesday (June 17, 2003) at 8:45 p.m. at the Christian Village Nursing Home.
Mrs. Trigg was a teacher for most of her adult life.
She was born Feb. 9, 1913, in Findlay to Joel Asbury Combs and Anna Marie Henninges Combs. Her parents died when she was in her teens, and she then lived with Ada and Ben Armstrong of Lincoln, her aunt and uncle. She married Frank W. Trigg in 1946, and he died in 1967.
She was also preceded in death by two brothers, Laurence Asbury Combs and Wayne Maurice Combs.
She described her father, a lumberyard manager, as a gentle man who instilled in her the desire to do her best, to know the difference between right and wrong, never to be afraid of work, and to save regularly. She remembered her mother as a religious person who took her along everywhere she went.
Helen adored her older brothers and envied them for being able to attend school when she was still too young. When her brothers came home from school, they often showed her what they had learned.
Finally, she came home from her own first day of school, full of excitement. She sat next to her mother, who was doing the family's ironing, and read her first-grade reading book aloud from cover to cover. When asked what she did for the rest of first grade, she said, "I read it again."
Her father died when she was 13, and when her mother became ill shortly afterward, Helen nursed her through a protracted final illness. Her mother died when Helen was 16, and she moved to Lincoln to live with the Armstrongs.
Her uncle died shortly after her arrival in Lincoln, but she lived with her aunt longer than she had lived with her own mother. She developed close ties to the Armstrongs' children, Marian, Wayne, Carroll and Lois. Her aunt encouraged her to go to college.
She received an associate of arts degree in 1933 from Lincoln College and a bachelor's degree in 1938 from Illinois State University. She also did graduate work at ISU, although she did not receive a graduate degree.
She began teaching in a one-room, one-teacher, eight-grade rural school near Lincoln. She later taught in Oak Park and in Lincoln until she retired at 65.
Local educators recognized the quality of her work, and she often instructed student teachers in her classroom.
During her later career she taught kindergarten, with classes ranging from 15 to 46 children. Although she recognized the problems of large classes, she remembered with satisfaction the time she succeeded in saying goodbye by name to each of her 89 pupils on their first day of school.
In the mid-1960s, she initiated the Head Start program in three central Illinois counties, but she always said she would rather be a teacher than an administrator.
Following her retirement, she kept in close contact with family and friends, paying special attention to those in poor health. She traveled with friends throughout the United States.
Mrs. Trigg was active in the First United Methodist Church in Lincoln, to which memorials may be made.
Mrs. Trigg was a teacher for most of her adult life.
She was born Feb. 9, 1913, in Findlay to Joel Asbury Combs and Anna Marie Henninges Combs. Her parents died when she was in her teens, and she then lived with Ada and Ben Armstrong of Lincoln, her aunt and uncle. She married Frank W. Trigg in 1946, and he died in 1967.
She was also preceded in death by two brothers, Laurence Asbury Combs and Wayne Maurice Combs.
She described her father, a lumberyard manager, as a gentle man who instilled in her the desire to do her best, to know the difference between right and wrong, never to be afraid of work, and to save regularly. She remembered her mother as a religious person who took her along everywhere she went.
Helen adored her older brothers and envied them for being able to attend school when she was still too young. When her brothers came home from school, they often showed her what they had learned.
Finally, she came home from her own first day of school, full of excitement. She sat next to her mother, who was doing the family's ironing, and read her first-grade reading book aloud from cover to cover. When asked what she did for the rest of first grade, she said, "I read it again."
Her father died when she was 13, and when her mother became ill shortly afterward, Helen nursed her through a protracted final illness. Her mother died when Helen was 16, and she moved to Lincoln to live with the Armstrongs.
Her uncle died shortly after her arrival in Lincoln, but she lived with her aunt longer than she had lived with her own mother. She developed close ties to the Armstrongs' children, Marian, Wayne, Carroll and Lois. Her aunt encouraged her to go to college.
She received an associate of arts degree in 1933 from Lincoln College and a bachelor's degree in 1938 from Illinois State University. She also did graduate work at ISU, although she did not receive a graduate degree.
She began teaching in a one-room, one-teacher, eight-grade rural school near Lincoln. She later taught in Oak Park and in Lincoln until she retired at 65.
Local educators recognized the quality of her work, and she often instructed student teachers in her classroom.
During her later career she taught kindergarten, with classes ranging from 15 to 46 children. Although she recognized the problems of large classes, she remembered with satisfaction the time she succeeded in saying goodbye by name to each of her 89 pupils on their first day of school.
In the mid-1960s, she initiated the Head Start program in three central Illinois counties, but she always said she would rather be a teacher than an administrator.
Following her retirement, she kept in close contact with family and friends, paying special attention to those in poor health. She traveled with friends throughout the United States.
Mrs. Trigg was active in the First United Methodist Church in Lincoln, to which memorials may be made.
Helen Marian Trigg, 90, of Lincoln died Tuesday (June 17, 2003) at 8:45 p.m. at the Christian Village Nursing Home.
Mrs. Trigg was a teacher for most of her adult life.
She was born Feb. 9, 1913, in Findlay to Joel Asbury Combs and Anna Marie Henninges Combs. Her parents died when she was in her teens, and she then lived with Ada and Ben Armstrong of Lincoln, her aunt and uncle. She married Frank W. Trigg in 1946, and he died in 1967.
She was also preceded in death by two brothers, Laurence Asbury Combs and Wayne Maurice Combs.
She described her father, a lumberyard manager, as a gentle man who instilled in her the desire to do her best, to know the difference between right and wrong, never to be afraid of work, and to save regularly. She remembered her mother as a religious person who took her along everywhere she went.
Helen adored her older brothers and envied them for being able to attend school when she was still too young. When her brothers came home from school, they often showed her what they had learned.
Finally, she came home from her own first day of school, full of excitement. She sat next to her mother, who was doing the family's ironing, and read her first-grade reading book aloud from cover to cover. When asked what she did for the rest of first grade, she said, "I read it again."
Her father died when she was 13, and when her mother became ill shortly afterward, Helen nursed her through a protracted final illness. Her mother died when Helen was 16, and she moved to Lincoln to live with the Armstrongs.
Her uncle died shortly after her arrival in Lincoln, but she lived with her aunt longer than she had lived with her own mother. She developed close ties to the Armstrongs' children, Marian, Wayne, Carroll and Lois. Her aunt encouraged her to go to college.
She received an associate of arts degree in 1933 from Lincoln College and a bachelor's degree in 1938 from Illinois State University. She also did graduate work at ISU, although she did not receive a graduate degree.
She began teaching in a one-room, one-teacher, eight-grade rural school near Lincoln. She later taught in Oak Park and in Lincoln until she retired at 65.
Local educators recognized the quality of her work, and she often instructed student teachers in her classroom.
During her later career she taught kindergarten, with classes ranging from 15 to 46 children. Although she recognized the problems of large classes, she remembered with satisfaction the time she succeeded in saying goodbye by name to each of her 89 pupils on their first day of school.
In the mid-1960s, she initiated the Head Start program in three central Illinois counties, but she always said she would rather be a teacher than an administrator.
Following her retirement, she kept in close contact with family and friends, paying special attention to those in poor health. She traveled with friends throughout the United States.
Mrs. Trigg was active in the First United Methodist Church in Lincoln, to which memorials may be made.
Mrs. Trigg was a teacher for most of her adult life.
She was born Feb. 9, 1913, in Findlay to Joel Asbury Combs and Anna Marie Henninges Combs. Her parents died when she was in her teens, and she then lived with Ada and Ben Armstrong of Lincoln, her aunt and uncle. She married Frank W. Trigg in 1946, and he died in 1967.
She was also preceded in death by two brothers, Laurence Asbury Combs and Wayne Maurice Combs.
She described her father, a lumberyard manager, as a gentle man who instilled in her the desire to do her best, to know the difference between right and wrong, never to be afraid of work, and to save regularly. She remembered her mother as a religious person who took her along everywhere she went.
Helen adored her older brothers and envied them for being able to attend school when she was still too young. When her brothers came home from school, they often showed her what they had learned.
Finally, she came home from her own first day of school, full of excitement. She sat next to her mother, who was doing the family's ironing, and read her first-grade reading book aloud from cover to cover. When asked what she did for the rest of first grade, she said, "I read it again."
Her father died when she was 13, and when her mother became ill shortly afterward, Helen nursed her through a protracted final illness. Her mother died when Helen was 16, and she moved to Lincoln to live with the Armstrongs.
Her uncle died shortly after her arrival in Lincoln, but she lived with her aunt longer than she had lived with her own mother. She developed close ties to the Armstrongs' children, Marian, Wayne, Carroll and Lois. Her aunt encouraged her to go to college.
She received an associate of arts degree in 1933 from Lincoln College and a bachelor's degree in 1938 from Illinois State University. She also did graduate work at ISU, although she did not receive a graduate degree.
She began teaching in a one-room, one-teacher, eight-grade rural school near Lincoln. She later taught in Oak Park and in Lincoln until she retired at 65.
Local educators recognized the quality of her work, and she often instructed student teachers in her classroom.
During her later career she taught kindergarten, with classes ranging from 15 to 46 children. Although she recognized the problems of large classes, she remembered with satisfaction the time she succeeded in saying goodbye by name to each of her 89 pupils on their first day of school.
In the mid-1960s, she initiated the Head Start program in three central Illinois counties, but she always said she would rather be a teacher than an administrator.
Following her retirement, she kept in close contact with family and friends, paying special attention to those in poor health. She traveled with friends throughout the United States.
Mrs. Trigg was active in the First United Methodist Church in Lincoln, to which memorials may be made.
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