Helen Frances Protiva

Helen (Chipman) Protiva passed away Friday July 26th, 2019, at home in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, at the age of 99.

Helen was born August 23, 1919, in Hill City, Kansas, the second eldest of seven siblings.  She grew up in a close-knit family on their farm.  During World War II, she worked for the War Department in Washington D.C.  After the war, she moved to Wichita, Kansas, where she met and married her late husband, Albert Protiva.  The two of them had a full life together, raising six children and living abroad in Venezuela for twenty years until Al’s retirement in 1977.

Al and Helen then moved to Norman where they enjoyed their remaining years together until Al passed away in 1984.  Helen was an active parishioner in Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church and volunteered her time working in the gift shop at Norman Regional Hospital.  In the summer of 2008, Helen moved to Jamaica Plain to live with her daughter, Jan.

She is survived by her sister, Teresa Kemp of Davenport, IA; her brother, Don Chipman of Denton, TX; her six children, Michael, William, Patrick, James, Janet, and Mark; five grandchildren, Tara Brown, Jason Protiva, Brent Protiva, Jonathan Protiva, and Amy Protiva; and four great grandchildren, Grace and Abigail Brown , Abel, and Deacon Protiva.