Hilma Wilcox

Hilma L. Jones Wilcox passed away January 4, 2014 in Tampa, FL. Hilma was born in Olin, Iowa on April7, 1921, daughter of Clifford and Alvena Jones. After graduation from high school in Olin, she attended the University of Iowa, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps in 1943 and served in WWII as a psychiatric nurse at the 29thGeneral Hospital in Seoul, Korea. Upon leaving service she returned to Iowa, working at hospitals in Iowa City and beginning her masters in nursing administration. She married Calvin Wilcox in 1947 (Divorced in 1974) and had eight children - five sons and three daughters. Besides Iowa, the family lived in Minnesota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Delaware, and Indiana, finally settling in East Lansing, Michigan. In Michigan, Hilma continued working as a psychiatric nurse in various positions, including teaching at MSU eventually retiring from an administrative position with the VA in Battle Creek. Hilma was an active member of The First Presbyterian Church in Dimondale. She will be forever remembered for her jams and canned peaches but mostly for the lifelong correspondence she maintained with her friends and family. As a prolific letter writer, she lived by the motto "MAKE NEW FRIENDS BUT KEEP THE OLD, ONE IS SILVER AND THE OTHER GOLD." She is survived by her eight children, Jim (Susan), Kris (TOM), Mike, Marci (Lee), Debbie (Tom), Jeff, Greg (Jim) and Rick: nine grandchildren, Chris (Kristy), Helen (JD), Michelle (Alan), Lloyd Lee (Katie), Parker, Ashely (Daryl ), Regan (Landon ), Whitney and nine great-grand children as well as by her sister Joanne LeGrand, sisters-in-law Dorothy Jones, Verda Wolf, and Jessie Rhodes, brother-in-law Don Wilcox and their families. She was preceded in death by her parents and brothers Howard and Larry. Memorial services in Dimondale, Michigan and Iowa are being planned. Donations in her memory can be made to LifePath Hospice, Tampa, FL; Women's Memorial Foundation, Washington, D.C.; University of Iowa College of Nursing, Iowa City, IA; or the Olin Ambulance Fund, Olin, IA.