GALLERYOF presidents
Jean Van Delinder Oklahoma Make Time for P.E.O. Jean Van Delinder is professor of sociology and senior associate dean of the Graduate College at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Jean grew up in Hibbing, Minnesota, located on the Iron Range close to Lake Superior. Her undergraduate degree is from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and she later completed an M.A. in American studies and a Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. She was selected for a P.E.O. Scholar Award in 1994, which allowed her to finish her dissertation on the social psychology of protest in the civil rights movement. Jean served on the Kansas State Chapter Executive Board before moving to Stillwater, Oklahoma, in 1996. She and her husband, Brad Rickelman, attend Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church and share their
Carol Hungerford Oregon Supporting Women with an Unbroken Band of Love Born in Portland, Oregon, and raised as an inner-city girl, Carol Hungerford shared her parents’ joy in in the outdoors. Her dad was a 50-year member of the Boy Scouts and spawned her passion for volunteer work: “Leave every path you walk the better for you having walked it.” Carol’s husband of 39 years, Steve, came complete with children Andrea and Brian. When their children, Amanda and Joel, were born, it made for a bustling household. Andrea, Brian and Joel today are partners in the Hungerford Law Firm. Daughter Amanda practices animal-rights law in Washington, D.C. And all four Hungerford attorney- children are married to attorneys. Along with volunteer work, their entire family has a passion for education so P.E.O.’s focus on educating women, supporting them both financially and emotionally, is very close to her heart. She and Steve moved frequently, which can be a bit unsettling. Thank goodness for P.E.O. and the ability to immediately find a new circle of loving friends! From Nebraska— where she received the gift of P.E.O.—to Oregon, she has been embraced by a new “family.” As for free time? You’ll find her walking, gardening, cooking, reading or latch-hooking.
Barbara Helmer South Carolina Bridging the Way to Education
Barbara Helmer is a fifth-generation Californian who was given the gift of P.E.O. in May of 1991, initiated with her sister into their mother’s chapter, VF, Atascadero, California, and making her a fifth-generation P.E.O.! She’s served in most local chapter offices and as reciprocity president in the California Central Coast Reciprocity Chapter. After helping to organize Chapter XZ, San Luis Obispo, California, in 2015, Barbara moved to Charleston, South Carolina, transferring to Chapter Z, where she’s served as president and vice president, and helped to organize Chapter AR in 2017. When called upon to serve on a South Carolina State Committee, she willingly accepted. Just a year later, she was honored and thrilled to learn that she was nominated to serve on the South Carolina State Executive Board. After the pandemic started, she helped to create and implement Zoom town halls to keep in touch with South Carolina sisters. Barbara has a grown daughter and son and three grandchildren. She loves to craft, create art and spend time at the beach. In the years that she’s served on the South Carolina State Executive Board, Barbara has learned, grown and is looking forward to presiding in the coming year.
home with a Yorkshire terrier named Baxter and two cats, Reveille and Ginger.
Jean is active in her local Daughters of the American Revolution Chapter and volunteers at the Oklahoma City Veterans Hospital. She enjoys genealogy, travel, yoga and Pilates.
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THE P.E.O. RECORD | July–August 2022
Women helping women reach for the stars
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