Helen Safford Hackett

El Paso - Helen Safford Hackett (1931-2020), known to family and her many friends as "Deja," died on December 12, 2020 at the age of 89 from complications of an intestinal ischemia at the Hospitals of Providence Transmountain Campus. Born Helen Romaine Safford, Deja was the daughter of Henry Towne Safford, Jr., a medical doctor in El Paso, and Helen Robinson Safford. Deja grew up on Cumberland Circle in El Paso with her younger brother Franklin Robinson Safford ("Pancho"). After her father died in 1941, her mother remarried Irwin Walker Gillett ("Bus") in 1945. Bus and his son Richard Gillett ("Rich") joined the family when Deja attended Austin High School, where Rich was a classmate. In 1952, she received a B.A. from Smith College, from which her mother also graduated. After college, in 1952, Deja married John Olmstead MacAyeal, who became a lawyer after graduating from the University of Texas Law School. They had three children: John Safford MacAyeal, James Robertson MacAyeal ("Jamie"), and Jennifer MacAyeal ("Jenny"). In 1966, Deja remarried Clarence Gordon Hackett, a child psychologist with the El Paso Guidance Center, who had four children: David Hackett, Donald Hackett ("Don"), Margaret Hackett ("Peggy") and Susan Hackett ("Susie"). Clarence Hackett died in 1985. David Hackett died in 2020. Deja was deeply involved in community service in El Paso, actively participating in service organizations throughout her life, including the League of Women Voters of El Paso, the Junior League, The Pan American Roundtable, Las Comadres, Family Service, Travelers Aid, and the Women's Auxiliary of the El Paso Bar Association. She was also a long-standing member of the Study Club and the Tuesday Book Club. She and Clarence Hackett were members of the Unitarian Church in El Paso. She had a gift for language and grammar and became fluent in Spanish. She earned a teaching degree from the University of Texas at El Paso and taught grade school at Western Hills Elementary School in the 1960s. She also taught English as a Second Language for decades at the El Paso Community College. Throughout her adult life, she was politically active and fought for peace, justice and the protection of the environment. She is survived by her brother Pancho, along with his wife Joan Safford and their two children: Mark and Joshua Safford, by her step-brother Rich, along with his wife Anne Gillett and their three children: Frank, Stephen and Sarah Gillett, by her sons John and Jamie, along with his wife Martha Elena Bustos, by her daughter Jenny, along with her husband John Eveler and their two children: Emily and Alex Eveler, and by her three surviving step-children, Don, along with his wife Lyn Hackett and their son Graham Hackett, Peggy along with her husband Chris Heinrichs, and Susie along with her husband Charles Murray. She is also survived by the widow of David Hackett, Anne Hackett, and their three children: Mary Elizabeth Hackett, Caroline Hackett, and Michael Hackett. Mary and Michael each have three children, great grandchildren to Deja. She is also survived by her many cherished cousins (through her father's siblings), including Charles de Wetter, David de Wetter, Robert de Wetter, Richard Langford, Ben Langford, Cara Howell Lind, Celia Hilton, Rachel Elizabeth Adame Anderson, Anthony Jastrzembski, and Anna Jastrzembski along with spouses, children and grandchildren too numerous to list. For many years Deja was a loving companion to Philip Himelstein, a clinical psychologist and a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at El Paso, who died in 2017. Deja lived a full and generous life and was well loved by all who knew her. When permitted, a memorial service will take place. Charitable donations in her memory should go to the League of Women Voters of El Paso.