I recently visited the basement of the Stuart Heritage Museum that is entered from the back of the building. It was a beautiful day and when I looked toward the St. Lucie River, I admired the Seminole Chickee-like picnic pavilion.

So many years have passed since the chickee honoring Juanita Geary was built, some of the present leaders of Stuart Heritage are unaware of its significance and all planning and work involved in making it a reality.

Helen Engebretsen, with her quiet ladylike manner may not seem like a globe trotting business woman but that is exactly what she became. She first worked for then bought the an early travel agency from Stanley Smith. She was the registered agent of Stuart Travel Service in 1965 and her offshoot “Jensen Breach Travel Service” did not close its doors until 2015. https://archive.tcpalm.com/yournews/martin-county/martin-county-world-traveler-retires-ep-1018362440-340783311.html?page=1

After Juanita Geary’s unexpected death resulting from space heater fire, her grieving friends wanted something to be done in her memory. Juanita was an early and active member of Stuart Heritage whose family tree includes a number of pioneer families—Stuart, Greene, Wells and DeBerry. At the time of her death Juanita had assumed the responsibility of the Stuart Heritage Museum gift shop. It included items made by the Seminole Indians in Ft. Pierce and the Brighton Reservation north of Lake Okeechobee. Juanita was especially interested in these, because the Seminole Indians often visited the south Florida towns where her family lived during her formative years.   

Helen Engebretsen spearheaded the effort to build the chickee as a memorial to Juanita. It was not easy. The City of Stuart required permitting and said that the Chickee had to be built near the St. Lucie River,  a distance from the 1901 historic commercial building that houses the Stuart Heritage Museum. Donations were collected and contractors hired to pour a slab and build the wooden part of the pavilion. Finding Seminole Indians who specialized in authentic Sabal Palm thatching was a challenge.  It is becoming a lost art.

Juanita’s friends were saddened when garbage dumpsters were placed beside the chickee. More fund raising followed and a muralist was hired to paint an Everglades scene to improve the setting of the Seminole chickee pavilion.

Helen’s husband, Toley Engebretsen, was a longtime volunteer at the Stuart Heritage Museum serving on the board of directors of Stuart Heritage, Inc. beginning in 1996 and as president from 2012 until shortly before his death in 2023. http://Stuart Heritage Museum.com