Michele Lynn Hellmann

After graduating from Alma High School as salutatorian in 1992, she progressed to Ferris State University and later completed her Doctorate of Optometry at the Michigan College of Optometry. She practiced optometry for Anderson Eye Associates in Mount Pleasant, MI before moving to Wisconsin and working at Wisconsin Vision.

On May 4, 2002, Shelley married Steven Hellmann. In 2004, she moved to Paris, Texas to raise her three children, choosing to be a full-time mother versus continuing her optometry career.

She took pride in her homeschool curriculum, which focused on building lifelong learners. Her analytical and sharp-witted mindset later propelled her into the stock trading world and earned her a feature in the New York Times. In life, she thought through the implications of every step before taking it, adopting in all things the approach she swore for her medical degree, “first do no harm.” She gave 100% of herself to everything she put her hand towards, and she prided herself on the logical, reasonable, and open-minded approach with which she tackled the problems she faced. She didn’t believe in luck, and she chose hard work and skill over talent every time and expected the same from those around her.

Shelley is survived by her husband of twenty-three years, Steven Hellmann residing in Paris, TX; children Kareyn Hellmann, Katrina Hellmann and Kaitlyn Hellmann of Paris, TX; father Don Curtis of Alma, MI; and her sister Amanda Curtis of Alma, MI. She is also survived by nieces and nephews and their families.

Shelley’s family will receive friends for visitation from 11am until 1pm on Saturday, September 27th at the Alma United Methodist Church in Alma, Michigan, the church she grew up in and was married in. The service will immediately follow at 1pm with Reverend Lori Sykes officiating. The interment will be at Alma’s Riverside Cemetery following the service, where she will be laid to rest near her mother’s gravesite.