Helen Bryan Ritchie Shedden

1927 - 2023

Helen Bryan Ritchie Shedden, 95, formerly of Winter Park, died April 5, 2023, at home in Melbourne, surrounded by her four children. Her life's passions - reading, learning and a love for family - were a constant throughout her life and stand as an inspiration to all who knew her.

The only child of Kenneth M. and Gene Moore Ritchie, she was born in Philadelphia on Oct. 26, 1927. Growing up in Philadelphia, Lancaster, Penn., and Princeton, N.J., Helen was never without a book. Words were her favorite companion. Her diaries - before and after World War II - include ongoing commentaries on novels, Hit Parade songs, Broadway shows and movies, including her beloved Casablanca.

After graduating from Princeton High School in 1946, Helen studied English Literature at Oberlin College in Ohio. Following her graduation in 1950 and after working at the Houghton Library at Harvard University in Boston, she returned to Princeton and launched a career in bookstores that would span four decades.

She met Princeton stamp and coin salesman Kenneth Shedden in 1953, and their first date a year later was to see The Glenn Miller Story. Their marriage on April 12, 1958, lasted until Ken's death in 1991.

Helen and Ken first lived in Princeton, where their son was born in 1959. Before long, they built a house in Willingboro, N.J., and welcomed three daughters in five years.

The move to Florida came in January 1969, when Helen and Ken piled four kids, a grandmother and one very nervous cat named Hobo into the family's blue Ford Fairlane station wagon. They arrived in Central Florida at a time when the family visited tourist attractions like the Citrus Tower - not the yet-to-open Walt Disney World.

The Sheddens lived in Eustis, Fla., for a year and a half before settling in Winter Park, Fla. There, Helen began a long career as the textbook buyer at the Rollins College Bookstore. After serving generations of Rollins students, she retired in May 1998.

Helen may have been known for being quiet, but she never shied from sharing her thoughts or perspective. She nurtured her hunger for knowledge by being a longtime member of First Congregational Church of Winter Park, the Orlando chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Lutheran Reunion Group and the Women's Multifaith Center of Orlando, where she was a member of the coordinating council in the 1990s.

Helen's love for reading never waned, evidenced in her impressive inventory of classics and biographies, the regular arrival of The New Yorker or The Nation, or in hunting for a place in Orlando selling the Sunday edition of The New York Times in the mid-1970s. Ken stood in line each week so she had a copy.

While in Central Florida, Helen continued to feed a love for musicals and drama, holding season tickets to theaters of all sizes. And in 1989, she embraced the new Orlando Magic, becoming an enthusiastic fan. In retirement, she became an active volunteer, serving more than 3,700 hours at the Thrift Shop and Auxiliary for Winter Park Memorial Hospital.

In 2010, she moved to Melbourne, Fla., and spent the next 13 years living with her daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter. Helen continued to be very involved in family gatherings, including major celebrations for her 80th and 90th birthdays. As she had done as a child, Helen always immersed herself in the written word. Until her final days, there was a book, magazine or newspaper in her hands. Reading, her family realized, was the true super power that led to her longevity.

Helen is survived by her daughter and longtime caregiver, Anne Shedden-Willis, and her husband George Willis; son David Shedden (Dawn Shedden); daughters Beth Shedden-Scarbeary (Steve Scarbeary); and Mary Shedden Dolson (Sam Dolson); and Gran's eight grandchildren: Emily Willis, Sam Bryan Dolson, John Scarbeary, Julia Dolson, Will Shedden, Amanda Scarbeary, Robert Shedden and Bryan Shedden.

A service will be held June 10 at 11 a.m., at First Congregational Church in Winter Park. Her family asks that memorials in Helen's name be made to your favorite public library.