HELMER P. HELMERS

PALMER-Helmer P. Helmers, 88, died Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, at Pomeroy Care Center. Funeral services will be held on Friday, Sept. 26 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Palmer with Rev. Brian Palmer officiating. Burial will be in St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery, Palmer. Visitation will be on Thursday, Sept. 25 from 4 until 8 p.m. at Larson- Weishaar Funeral Home in Manson.

Survivors include his wife of 59 years, Herta; daughter Rita Helmers of Los Angeles, CA; sons Doug (Joan) Helmers of Palmer and Alan (Jean) Helmers of Ft. Dodge; grandchildren Greg, Angie, Allison, and David Helmers; great grandchildren Alicia and Andrew Helmers; sister Johanna Erdmann of Moorhusen, Germany. He was preceded in death by his parents; infant son Peter; grandson Brian; brothers and sisters Chris, Harm, John, Jacob, Casjen, Wilhelm, Ebbo, Friedrich, Peter, Poppe, and Motje Menken.

Helmer Peters Helmers was born on Sept. 2, 1919, at Moorhusen, Ostfriesland, Germany, the son of Peter and Christina (Assing) Helmers. He received his formal education in schools located in Germany. During WWII he served in the German Army and Navy, serving on the Eastern Front near Stalingrad, and later on the Western Front at the Battle of the Bulge, where he was wounded. He was united in marriage to Herta Drose on July 9, 1949, at Munkeboe, Germany. Together he and Herta came to the United States on March 22, 1952, where he worked as a mason for several large construction companies. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1955. In 1960, he became owner and operator of Helmers Construction Co. until his retirement in 1985.

Helmer enjoyed teatime with his family, woodworking, and he could fix anything.