On August 28, Gerald "Jerry" William Helf, a loving father, passed away. He was 91. Jerry graduated from Kaukauna High School in 1949 and joined the Marines that same year. His service until September of 1953 was something he was proud of all of his life. Jerry spent most of his working life at Thilmany Pulp and Paper Company until his retirement in the mid-90's. He spent many years working on all aspects of paper production and eventually rose to a management position when he took a job as supervisor of the testing lab. He also worked part-time construction for Harry Borree and Don DeValk in his 20's and 30's, where he learned many of the skills that his family, friends, and neighbors benefitted from for years afterward.

Indeed, Jerry had a strong handyman streak that served him well all of his life. While still in his 20's, with the help of family and friends, Jerry built his house in Combined Locks, including singlehandedly laying all of the stone and doing most of the concrete work in the basement. He went on to work on houses and cottages for many friends and family, where he could be counted on to hang a door, lay the carpeting, do the finishing work on a driveway, install a new sink, or build a beer tent for the parish picnic. Later he thoroughly enjoyed telling stories about his building adventures and occasional mishaps and driving around and pointing out homes on which he had done work. There is no greater testimony to his carpentry skills and love for building than the fact that both of his sons inherited his talent with tools, Bill using his knowledge to become a sought after handyman and enthusiastic jack-of-all trades, and Gerald putting his passion for building into a career.

Jerry also really embraced life. As a boy, he worked around horses and enjoyed a good ride well into adulthood. He built a comfortable cottage in Athelstane where he enjoyed many weekends with family and friends, deer hunting, sitting around a campfire, swimming, boating, and fishing. Jerry was also the dad in the neighborhood most likely to be found hatching plans to build a cage for a pigeon he found on his way home from work or figuring out a way to trap a wild rabbit that nested each night in the flowerbed. All of his kids were taught at a young age to shoot a pellet gun and jump into a cold Wisconsin lake without a life jacket. He was also a devoted member of the Kaukauna Moose Lodge, which hosted his wedding reception to Sharon in 1985 and his surprise 80th birthday party in 2011. Jerry also loved his dogs, and until the end he teared up telling stories about his childhood dog, Boy, and his faithful companion, Bear.

Born to Richard and Selma Helf on April 8, 1931, he was preceded in death by his wife, Sharon, ex-wife, Charlotte, his parents, three brothers, Robert, Jim, Richard, Jr., and one sister, Janet Borree. He is survived by his four children, William Gerald (Marion, Iowa); Lisa (and David) Ison (Isom, KY); Rhonda (and Scott) Spiess (Colfax, WI); and Gerald, Jr. (and Brittany) (Greenville, WI), four grandchildren, Zeke Maggard (and Bailey Ruth) (Golden, CO), Sierra and Savannah Spiess (Colfax, WI), and Hayden Gurga (Greenville, WI), a brother, Tom (and Judy) (Kaukauna, WI) and sister, Nancy (Hilton Head, SC), and a host of nieces and nephews.

A celebration of Jerry's life for family and friends will take place on September 24th from 3:00-6:00pm at his home in Grand Chute. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Appleton VFW Post 38 http://www.appletonpost38.org/index.php?id=147 or the Kaukauna Moose Lodge, P.O. Box 365, Kaukauna, WI 54130.