Delmar B. Helland (1919-2009)

HELLAND, AYERS, RUBLE, LOUNSBERRY

Posted By: Ames Tribune
Date: 10/28/2009 at 08:24:05

THE AMES TRIBUNE, Ames, Story County, Iowa, Friday, October 23, 2009.

Delmar B. Helland, 90, of Story City, died Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009, of emphysema at Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames. Visitation will be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, at Bethany Lutheran Church in McCallsburg. The funeral service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, at Bethany Lutheran Church.

Delmar was born Feb. 25, 1919, on a farm near McCallsburg, the second-youngest of 10 children. He graduated from McCallsburg High School in 1937 and attended technical school in Lincoln, Neb., in 1941. He moved to Buffalo, N.Y., and worked at the Curtiss-Wright airplane factory until enlisting in the Air Force in 1942. He spent more than 18 months in Europe in World War II.

He met the love of his life, Mildred Ayers, of Ohio, Ill., in New York City when they were both in the military service. They married on Aug. 9, 1946, in Roland. As Delmar and Mildred prepared to begin raising a family in McCallsburg, Delmar and a friend bought an oil distribution business there in 1948, which they named Helland and Woster Oil Co. They sold it in 1963, and Delmar sought a return to his farming roots. He bought a farm outside McCallsburg in 1965, not far from the one on which he grew up, and moved his family there. He farmed until he retired in 1985 when he and Mildred moved back into town. They moved to Story City in 2008.

We were all enriched by the stories Delmar told. He loved to fish, and made many fishing trips to Minnesota and Canada. Life was good if you could have fish for supper.

He is survived by Mildred and their children, Ann (Greg) Ruble, of Waukee, Lorijo (John) Lounsberry, of Story City, and Kurt Helland (girlfriend Jody Horning), of Des Moines; and grandchildren, Nathan Ruble and his wife, Holly, and Brian, Kevin and Lynn Lounsberry.

He was preceded in death by his parents and all of his brothers and sisters, an infant daughter, and an infant grandson.

Memorial contributions may be made to Bethany Lutheran Church or the McCallsburg American Legion.

Fredregill Funeral Home of Zearing is in charge of arrangements.

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