DONALD LEE HELLE, 15g (George A. 14, Frederick 13)
  b. 30 Sept 1908; Smithfield, IL
  d. 18 July 1961; Tiskilwa, IL  (electrocuted while working for sawmill business) 
  br.  Mt. Bloom Cemetery; Tiskilwa, IL

m.1st - 12 Aug 1933 GERALDINE MCCLUEN dv. 1939  (b. 02 June 1916; Wyoming, IL / d. 05 July 2000; Castlegar, CANADA)

DONALD LEE HELLE was the fifth son of George A. and Ida (Kaler) Helle born a few months before the family moved from Smithfield to a farm seven miles northwest of Cuba.    Sister Ethel relates, "Mom said when I was born everyone was making over me, a girl born into the family of five boys, and Don was quietly watching on. Royle who was only six years old saw the effect upon Don and picked him up and rocked him. Eventually Don and I had our own language. If anyone wanted to know what we were saying, I did the interpreting to them, then we would continue our conversation in our own language. When I was five and Don was six, Mom sent me to school so l could help Don who was so shy."

Don preferred working in the timber. When George Adam and the younger brothers moved to Bureau County, Don also headed'north and made his home there. He first married GERALDINE MCCLUEN by whom he had one son:

CHARLES LEE HELLE, 16g
b.  01 Feb 1935; Kewanee, IL
m.Wyoming, IL; Dec 1955.  dv. May 1968  PHYLLIS McGUIRE (b. 4 June 1938)


Don and Jean

DONALD LEE HELLE, 15g (George A. 14, Frederick 13)
m. 2nd - Buffalo, IA; 31 March 1940 HALLIE JEAN UNDERWOOD, daughter of Elijah W. and Laura Etta (Skaggs) Underwood
                                                                                  b.  13 Dec 1921; Tiskilwa, IL 
                                                                                  d.  23 April 1992; Peoria, IL

Don and Jean had six children:

MARILYN DIANNE HELLE, 16g
  b.  24 July 1941; Princeton, IL
KENNETH ROY HELLE, 16g
  b.  20 Nov 1943; Princeton, IL  
  d.  31 May 1990; Princeton  (killed in car-truck accident)  
  br.  Mt. Bloom Cemetery; Tiskilwa, IL
 TERRY DON HELLE, 16g
  b.  20 July 1945; Princeton, IL 
JAMES DALE HELLE, 16g
  b. 05 July 1948; Princeton, IL
DONNA JEAN HELLE, 16g
b.  30 Sept 1949; Princeton, IL 
BEVERLY SUE HELLE, 16g
b.  02 June 1951; Princeton, IL

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. 

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.

                                                          Lee, Don and Jean -  Picture taken 1944-1945
                                               Car is a 1941 Buick that came with factory twin carbs

Hallie Jean (Underwood) Helle, stepmother to Lee Helle

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.

                                                                                                  Donald Lee Helle 15th generation

 By Marilyn Helle 16th generation

Dad was a very hard working, fun loving man.  He owned and operated his sawmill and also farmed, raising corn and oats.  We always had a couple milk cows.  We raised chickens and hogs for food.  Even after we moved to Tiskilwa, Dad was into raising animals.  Eventually he bought 55 acres outside of Putnam where he raised cattle and sheep at various times.
 
Dad loved to tease.  When Kenneth and I were young, we had a bedtime that Mom was strict about.  Even then I was a little night owl.  On summer nights I hated being sent to bed while the sun was still up.  I'd creep out of bed over to the window and look out to see what was going on.  More often than not, if it was hot, Mom and Dad would be outside.  One time Dad spotted me.  He strolled out of sight then sneaked around to the back of the house then let out a blood curdling howl.  It didn't take long for Kenneth and me to clear the upstairs and get out to Mom.  Dad was so tickled it soon became a game.  We never knew when he would try to scare us but it was often and a way of staying up a bit longer.
 
Dad hated cats, but we had them on the farm for rats and mice.  There was one big yellow cat I was fond of.  Every morning before he went out to do chores, Dad would get that cat and bring it upstairs and put it in bed with me.  Later I had to be sure it got back outside because Mom didn't like animals in the house.

Dad had two passions.  Hunting and ice creams.  He always had guns and foxhounds and loved to spend the nights listening to his dog run a fox.  We spent many a night when I was growing up parked along a dirt road listening to the dogs run.  In the winter, Dad would
day hunt with an eye on profit.  Any fox he saw, he shot for the pelt.  At one time I remember he had two big bundles of fox pelts handing in the haymow.

Then there was the ice cream.  He loved it all, especially fudgesicles and lemon ice cream.  There was this filling station on the way to Fulton County that always had lemon ice cream.  Since Dad was born and raised in Fulton County and most of his family was still there, we went visiting about every other weekend when I was little.  Dad made a point of stopping at that filling station for ice cream cones
all around.  When Mom went for groceries and there was lemon ice cream she always got it and even if lemon wasn't available, she'd get some other flaver.  Dad had to have his ice cream.                   

                                         Marilynn
​

"We Remember"

Gail Helle, brother

Don was a great big sentimental guy whose heart was as big as he was. When I was in the Air Force, Bernice and our two little girls came down to Mississippi to stay a couple of months with me. On the way back she had car trouble, ran out of money and had no place to get any. She made a telephone call to Don and the money was there within a few hours. That was Don; he might ask but he always gave. I remember his shooting ability and his love of hounds and hunting. He was determined to play the fiddle and his chording on the piano was one of the best. He loved dancing.
-------------------------------------------------

Kenneth Helle, son

After receiving a copy of the book of poems which his uncle, Royle Helle, had published, Kenneth wrote to Royle and enclosed a poem of his own. In the poem Kenneth wrote the following lines about his father:

I  am going to run my hounds tonight
Them old coyotes will be in for a fight.
I have six hounds that are close and dear
When I hear them run I wish Dad was back here.
Dad would be proud of the hounds I keep
Some day in foxhunter's heaven Dad and I will meet.
Until that day comes I will do my best
Cause some day I know I will get my rest.
If my kids are as proud of me as I was Dad
The good Lord knows I won't be sad.

At age fifty - two, Don was electrocuted at work. His obituary reads in part:

Area Man Electrocution Victim

Donald Helle, 52, a former Fulton county resident, was electrocuted Tuesday afternoon while at work in a wooded area near Tiskilwa.
An inquest conducted at the scene showed that Helle's death occurred accidentally when a truck crane boom, operated by another worker, struck a high - voltage power line.

Don Helle was on a truck helping load wood. He and his brothers Gene and Verle operated a sawmill at Oregon, Ill.

He is survived by his wife four sons, three daughters, his mother, nine brothers and two sisters...

Services will be at the Tiskilwa Mennonite Church where the Rev. Ben Esch will officiate.

---

General Notes: Gail Helle: "Don was a sentimental guy. Don was determined to play the fiddle and his chording on the piano was one of the best. He loved dancing."

Lee Helle: "Dad was one of the best rifle shots in the state, he scorned the use of a rest or telescope sight. With a 22 rifle I have watched him drive nails into wood boards at 20 steps. Once with a pump 25-20 rifle I watched him knock a goose out of the air. At the local carnivals he would be barred from the shooting galleries.
Honest as the day was long, didn't drink or smoke, would give you the shirt off your back if you needed it. He had no use for for any man who abused women or children.
He was a avid fox hunter and we always had from six to a dozen fox hounds. To go out at night and listen to the hounds chasing a fox was one of Dads greatest hobbies.
Dad worked hard all his life as a sawmill man and at times he tried hard to be a farmer. He was killed in a accident way before his time."

Ethel Helle Walton: "Don and I had our own language. If anyone wanted to know what we were saying, I did the interpreting, then we would continue our conversation in our own language."

Sheldon Helle: "I remember the day Don asked me to go fox hunting with him. We loaded up hound dogs in his open car and drove about twenty miles. We let the dogs out for the "Big Chase." We were supposed to see some foxes go by with the dogs right behind them. We stood on a COLD hill all day -never did see a fox or a dog. I was not sure I would survive that day, but somehow, I did. Night time came and the dogs returned. I think it took me three days to thaw out. I never forgot my first and last day fox hunting. Don entered a borrowed Model T Ford coupe in the "Slow Car Race," at the Cuba Home Coming. A five dollar prize would go to the slowest car. The race was one block. Don was great with cars, a real professional mechanic. He retarded the spark, changed the throttle linkage. The race was on. When all the other cars had traveled the block, Don and I were just past the half way mark. It was a great thrill to come in last. Don got the five dollars - Big money for a teenage boy back in the 20's."

Kenneth wrote the following about his father:

"I am going to run my hounds tonight; Them old coyotes will be in for a fight.
I have six hounds that are close and dear; When I hear them run I wish Dad was back here.
Dad would be proud of the hounds I keep; Some day in fox hunter's heaven Dad and I will meet.
Until that day comes I will do my best; Cause some day I know I will get my rest.
If my kids are as proud of me as I was Dad; The good Lord knows I won't be sad."

(Kenneth died in an accident at the age of 46.)


Marilynn Helle: "Dad was a very hard working, fun loving man. He owned and operated his sawmill and also farmed. We always had a couple milk cows. He bought 55 acres outside of Putnam and raised cattle and sheep. Dad had two passions - Hunting and ice creams. He always had guns and fox hounds and loved to spend the nights listening to his dog run a fox. We spent many a night when I was growing up parked along a dirt road listening to the dogs run. In the winter, Dad would day hunt with an eye on profit. Any fox he saw, he shot for the pelt."


The following obituary was in the newspaper:
Donald Helle, 52, a former Fulton county resident, was electrocuted Tuesday afternoon, while at work in a wooded area near Tiskilwa. An inquest conducted at the scene showed that Helle's death occurred accidentally when a truck crane boom, operated by another worker struck high voltage power line. Helle was on the truck helping load wood. He and his brothers, Gene and Verle, operated as sawmill at Oregon, IL.
His wife, four sons, three daughters, his mother, nine brothers and two sisters survive him.