Helen Louise Cullison

Helen Louise Cullison

Helen Louise Cullison (nee Hagen), formerly of Akron, died in Erlanger, Ky. on December 29, 2013 at the age of 92.

For many years, she was the president of the Akron Area League of Women Voters, where she arranged and moderated numerous candidates' forums, which were frequently televised in Akron. She taught American Government at Copley High School for 17 years. Her annual lecture on civil liberties was so well respected, the school administration turned it into an assembly so the entire school could be involved. She was the faculty advisor to the student newspaper, the Copley Circle. Several of her students went on to careers in journalism. In 1999, she was awarded the Judith Resnik Pioneer Award by the Women's History Project for "a woman who has paved the way for others to follow."

While in college, she was the second female editor of Akron University's newspaper, the Buchtelite. She met her husband Art while both were working on the paper. They wed in 1942, while Art was on a weekend pass from the U.S. Army Air Corps. He shipped out to Africa one month later. After World War II, he enjoyed a long career in the editorial department of the Akron Beacon Journal. Art and Helen Louise shared a room in a nursing home in 2012, the last year of his life.

Helen Louise survived her parents, Hans and Adeline Hagen and her brother, Robert. She leaves her sister-in-law, Keta Hagen of Phoenix; her brother, Bruce (Joan) Hagen of Brecksville; two sons, Richard (Veronica) Cullison of Fort Mitchell, Ky., and Robert Cullison of Hopkins, Minn.; grandchildren, Robert (Renee) Cullison, Junior of Copley, Steven (Lisa) Cullison, Jeffrey (Carrie) Cullison of Minneapolis, Andrew (Sarah) Cullison of Fredonia, N.Y., Rachael (Zachary) Fait of Fort Mitchell, Ky.; and four great-grandsons.

Visitation will be at the Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel, 85 N. Miller Rd., Akron, Ohio, from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday, January 18, 2014. A memorial ceremony will follow. Contributions may be given to the Akron Area League of Women Voters, 380 Mull Ave., Akron, OH 44320, or Summit County United Way, 90 N. Prospect St., Akron, OH 44304-1273.

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Billow FAIRLAWN Chapel