I Am Wilshire: Helen Jerman.
Hometown: Oklahoma City, OK
Education: B.A., Journalism, Baylor University
Profession: Editor
Present city: Dallas
Tell us about your family. I live in Dallas with my husband, Jeremy, and our two dogs, Jackson and Fox Mulder. I am a typical oldest child, bossy and protective, and my younger sister lives in the M Streets area of Dallas. My mom and dad live in Oklahoma City, in the house where I grew up.
What brought you to Wilshire and when? I first joined Wilshire in 2005 when I moved to Dallas. I had attended a CBF church in Waco during college and some of my Baylor friends recommended that I check out Wilshire. Honestly, I didn’t attend for long, as my focus was elsewhere on my career and my social life. In 2017, now married, I came back to Wilshire, seeking spiritual renewal and community after a series of personal and health setbacks.
Where are you engaged in Wilshire? I am a member of and teach occasionally in Perennial Sunday School Class. I have been a member of the Christian Advocacy Committee for the last several years, and chair of that committee since 2020. In non-COVID times, I have been active in the women’s ministry and missions events such as Room in the Inn and the trip to Shaw, Mississippi.
What’s something interesting most people wouldn’t know about you? I was born in Bahrain, a tiny country in the Persian Gulf, and my family and I lived in Scotland for a summer when I was five or six. I have met Cyndi Lauper, who gave me a clip-on Barbie doll earring (just one!) and Ronald Reagan, who gave me a jar of jelly beans.
What adjectives best describe you? I am honest to a fault. I don’t have much of a filter, at all, and I am not afraid to say what I think. My mom says I am very definite — a very black-and-white thinker. I am tenacious and conscientious, as well as loyal and loving.
Who has had the greatest influence in your life? My parents. They set me up for success in so many ways, not only by providing for me financially and emotionally, but also by instilling in me a strong work ethic, good values and a wonderful example of marriage and partnership.