Dr. Robert Meredith Helm was predeceased by his parents Mary Alma Jones Helm and Robert Meredith Helm; also a sister, Dorothy Paige Helm, who died as an infant before Bob was born. He is survived by his spouse Carol Jester Helm of the home, and a stepson, Jonathan Dinkins of Clemmons, sisters-in-law Susie Hoots and Dottie Cockerham (Mickey), and two brothers-in-law, Randy Jester and Jerry Jester.
Dr. Helm received a BA from Wake Forest University in 1939, followed by an MA and pHD from Duke University. He started his teaching career at Wake Forest University in 1940. Drafted into the United States Army in 1941, he served to the rank of Major in the US Army and Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserves. He was the proud recipient of the Patriotic Civilian Service Award, the Decorated Army Commendation Medal in 1979, and the Army Meritorious Service Medal in 1989. The Patriotic Civilian Service Award is the highest award the US Army bestows on and individual.
His teaching career spanned sixty-three years. In addition to Wake Forest, his teaching career includes classes taught at Salem College and The North Carolina School of the Arts. Throughout his career he was involved in many activities, which enabled him to deliver philosophical papers on five continents. He authored and co-authored several books during his tenure at Wake Forest and truly felt that the faculty had bestowed on him every honor it could bestow on a colleague. The following words are a direct quote of his regarding this: “When I became a student at the ‘old campus’ at the age of eighteen, I found myself in an environment so classically and romantically attuned to my idealized image of a college, that I have never been able to break the bond that holds me to Wake Forest. Now, more than six decades later, I still feel a deep sense of pride in the intellectual integrity that is its historic heritage, the beauty of a campus that I have known from its beginnings, and the richness of a spirit that draws its strength from the dedication of generations of faculty and students.”
A word of thanks should also be given to the Gene Worrell family for their generosity in his honor and the Retired Major General Richard Beale family for playing the instrumental part in the Robert M. Helm Scholarship Fund for ROTC students at Wake Forest University.
A memorial service is planned at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 520 Summit Street, Winston Salem, NC 27101 for Monday, September 30 at 2:00 pm. A reception will follow the service at the church.
Memorials may be made to Second Harvest Food Bank, 3655 Reed Street, Winston Salem NC 27199 or to the Robert M. Helm Leadership Scholarship Fund, Wake Forest University, PO Box7227, Winston Salem, NC 27106 .
