Donald Lee Helle

born  Sept 1908

died  July 1961

Donald Lee Helle; as told by Lee Helle

My memories will be perhaps a little different than the memories of some of my younger siblings.

To start with he was one of the Helle boys who was torn between wanting to be a farmer and a sawmill man. He tried to do both, along with raising a large family. Results Dad ended up working 6-7 days a week to enable his family to eat the next week.

Honest as the day was long, didn't smoke, didn't drink and thought there was nothing lower than a man who's word was no good. The only card game allowed to be played in our home was 500 Rummy.

A stern but fair father, but he didn't understand how to deal with a son who had more than his share of the Helle bullheadedness.

Dad was a above average rifle shot, this he passed down to all of his sons. Many the time I've seen him banned from the little shooting galleries that were with the carnivals. Dads idea of a shooting sport was to drive nails with a 22 rifle standing off at about fifty feet using a 22 rifle, Off-hand! he sneered at anyone who felt the need to use a rest or scope sight.

Thru dad I honed my natural skills operating any and all types of wheeled or tracked vehicles. Dad constantly preached safety to me, to think two steps ahead of every action.  Years later  he was killed in a avoidable accident, When I was a boy Dad would have foreseen the dangerous situation that killed him.  How and why this happened will always be a  mystery to me.

All of the 14th & 15th generation were musical inclined, Dad was a fiddle man one of his favorite songs that came out in 1931 was (the old pine tree)

In conclusion I can only say my dad was a very good man, who had very big shoes for his sons to try and fill.

 

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Hallie Jean (Underwood) Helle, stepmother to Lee Helle

B.   Dec  1921

M  31 March 1940

D

Here again my memory will be quite different than my younger siblings. Jean was nineteen years of age when she married my dad. 

                   

This is my view,  And my view has changed a lot this past twelve years on this subject, mainly because of information I picked up on my two trips back to IL. 89 & 91.

       One of the main reasons my Dad married my Stepmother was to have a mother for his four year old son(me.) Like most men he knew a lot less about women than he thought.

     

       Back to 1940, being a new wife and a new mother at the same time would be a challenge for any woman. This child having Aunts and Uncles who had in the past helped raise this kid compounded the problem.

Old story about the person who complained about having no shoes? My outlook on life has changed a lot this past sixty years.

Everyday that I wake up is a good day, and in most cases no matter how bad a situation is; if I try, I can see how it might have been worse.

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Dad was a sportsman, almost before the word was invented, hunting was a way of life

back in those days. Meat on the table, hides to bring in a few extra dollars. As I said before Dad was a above marksman when it came to a rifle. When I was in the 2nd grade

I watched him knock a goose out of the air with a 25-20 rifle, with this same slide action Remington rifle I have watched him dump runing foxes over a hundred yards away.

Below is a picture of Dad in his later years 1957-1962 ? Big hearted when it came to kids

and animals, here is a orphan fox pup he raised.

 

Me, Dad and Jean

Picture taken 1944-1945

Car is a 1941 Buick that came with factory twin carbs

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