Helen Hooper Hicken was born May 28, 1914 to Spencer H. Peterson and Jeannette Whitehead Peterson in Mammoth, Utah. She graduated from LDS High School and attended the University of Utah. She married Eugene A. Hooper on November 5, 1936 in the Salt Lake Temple. He passed away in November 1966. She married Thomas L. Hicken in November 1967 and he passed away in November 1983.
Helen was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in many different capacities. She is a former member of and historian for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. She served as an officer in the League of Utah Writers and American Pen Women and published many poems, stories and a novel. She was a secretary for many years for the Utah Fish and Game Department.