Charlotte Babicki, daughter of Joseph Anthony (JA) Babicki (1917-1997) and Phyllis Jean Lieurance (1921-2022), was born in Pratt, Kansas in 1946. Joseph was the son of Polish immigrants and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Phyllis’ family arrived in the United States in the 1600s and 1700s, mostly from England. Both Phyllis and Charlotte grew up in Topeka, Kansas. Charlotte attended Central Park Grade School, Crane Junior High School, and Topeka High School, where she was Yearbook editor.
Charlotte attended university at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts from 1964-1968, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science. She got a job at John Hancock Insurance as a trainee computer programmer (1968), then moved to a technical writing job at the Charles Stark Draper Lab (MIT) where she wrote user manuals for astronauts (1968-70). From 1970-72 she did technical writing at a division of Wang Laboratories.
Charlotte moved to Canada in 1972. After 5 months in Toronto, she found a job in Yellowknife with the Government of the Northwest Territories. Charlotte worked for the GNWT for 35 years (1973-2008). She held the same position number throughout, although her job title started as Manuals Writer and ended as Policy Advisor and she shifted divisions from Systems and Computer Services to Records Management and finally Finance and Administration. While working for the GNWT, Charlotte was member of Local 1, Union of Northern Workers and served as Chief Shop Steward and on the executive until 1991.
Charlotte attended the 1990 Literacy Conference as the Union representative, then volunteered for the Literacy Council organizing committee and wrote the by-laws. She served as the Yellowknife Regional Representative for several years, which included trips to Inuvik, Cambridge Bay, and Fort Smith for conferences. She helped to organize an annual NWT-wide writing contest, sorting the entries and editing 10 issues of Northern Writes. She also put together the 1992 publication called I Remember, which contained short memories of learning to read.
Charlotte attended an adult education class in Mysteries which broadened her appreciation of mystery authors. She also took several introductory courses in Tłı̨chǫ, where she learned to read, write, and speak a little, leading to the creation of some Tłı̨chǫ learning materials.
Charlotte also has an interest in quilting. She started in 1967 and learned from books and family examples. She joined the Yellowknife Guild in 2008 and served as a board member for a few years, during which time she wrote the newsletter, managed the guild’s library, and re-wrote the bylaws in plain language.
Charlotte wrote several publications in the course of her employment with the GNWT, including Project Information Books (NWT Alcohol and Drug Offices, 1984), Turning Work into Words: How to Write a Government Manual (GNWT Government Services, 1987), and Plain Words & Sentences (GNWT Public Works and Services, 2002). Since her retirement, she has written several genealogy booklets including Una’s Wedding, 24 November 1886 (2010), Letters from Marsha, 1968-1979 (2015), and From Allen to Wyandotte: My Kansas County Project (2021).