Author: Duane Fickeisen

Phyllis Helligas, widow of the Rev. Byrd Helligas, died August 14, 2016 in Arcata, CA at the age of 92. She was born of parents Hazel and Irvin Carlson in Isle, Minnesota in 1924. Phyllis married Daniel Brant in 1946 when he returned from military service. In 1952 they moved to Arcata CA, when Dan Brant started to teach at Humboldt State College. They divorced in 1968 after their three children were raised.

Phyllis had graduated from the University of Minnesota 1945, with a B.S. degree in Home Economics Education. She later went back to college and received a B.S. degree in political science from Humboldt State and an M.S degree in Public Administration from the University of California at Berkeley, then began a long career in Personnel Administration for the City of Sunnyvale.

She married Byrd Helligas in 1971 and they converted a potato chip factory into a Bed and Breakfast. When they left that, they started a business filling in for other Bed and Breakfast proprietors.

She returned to Arcata in 1989 after her retirement from Sunnyvale. Phyllis was active in local community activities, having been a charter member of the Humboldt County League of Women Voters and of the Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. Her later years were devoted to population control movements including Planned Parenthood. Phyllis was an outspoken atheist who was proud of her life membership in the Freedom from Religion Foundation. She also appreciated her women’s group, other affinity groups who kept her engaged with life, and especially the Unitarian Universalists.

Phyllis designed the house that she and Dan built with their own hands in Arcata and enjoyed designing and remodeling homes and cabins with Byrd in later years. She spent many happy hours with family and friends and by herself at her cabin at Big Lagoon and served on the Board of Directors for the Big Lagoon Park Company for over 20 years.

She is survived by her two sons, Peter Brant and his partner Denise Hisel of Arcata, Bruce Brant and his wife Roseanne from South Lake Tahoe; her daughter, Susan Brant Ruderian and husband Harvey Ruderian from Malibu; stepson Byrd Helligas, Jr. of Olympia, WA; stepson Aron Helligas and wife, Beth, of Portland, OR; and grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins in Minnesota and California.

Memorial gifts should be sent to the Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Box 506, Bayside, CA 95524, or to Six Rivers Planned Parenthood, 3225 Timber Fall Court, Eureka, CA 95503.