Helmke, Earl O. 1920-1989

HELMKE

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes
Date: 2/12/2014 at 11:46:39

The Grinnell (IA) Herald-Register

EARL O. HELMKE

Earl O. Helmke, 69, of 814 Eleventh Ave., Grinnell, died of a heart ailment Wednesday, June 28, at Mercy Hospital Medical Center in Des Moines.

Funeral services were conducted Saturday at St. John's Lutheran Church, with the Rev. Arvid Dixen officiating. Organist was Margaret Amo, and pallbearers were Robert Anderson, Myron Heneke, Laverne Kelm, Jack Templeton, Harvey Quindt and Merle Zuehl.

Burial was in Hazelwood Cemetery, with the Smith Funeral Home in charge of arrangements. Memorials in Mr. Helmke's name may be made to St. John's Lutheran Church.

The son of John A. and Emma Lackow Helmke, he was born May 18, 1920, at Chilton, Wis. He graduated from Chilton High School in 1938 and attended business college in Fond du Lac, Wis. He received his B.A. degree from Upper Iowa College, Fayette, in 1982.

During World War II he served with the U.S. Navy in the Pacific and Far East.

He was married to Emma Marie Schmahl Dec. 28, 1946, in Chilton. Mr. Helmke worked as an accountant for GTE at Madison and Wausau, Wis., before coming to Grinnell in 1957. He retired from GTE in 1986.

He was a member of St. John's Lutheran Church and was a church officer, holding the positions of president and treasurer. He was also a member of the Mid-Iowa Woodcarvers Association and was involved in local tree-planting efforts.

Surviving are his wife, Emma; three sons, the Rev. Kenneth Helmke of Dubuque, Mark of Evanston, Ill., and Thomas, a student at Midland Lutheran College, Fremont, Neb.; two daughters, Eloise Froah of Newton and Sara Gaultney of Des Plaines, Ill.; eight grandchildren; and four sisters, Ethel Schmahl of Chilton, Mable Opgenorth of Sheboygan, Wis., Ruth Bebeau of Sun Lake, Ariz., and Beverly Olson of Menasha, Wis. He was preceded in death by his parents and one brother, John.