Kenneth Harley Helmick

Kenneth Harley Helmick, 103 years old, passed away on February 25, 2019. He was born in Etna, Ohio, on January 23, 1916, to Harley and Gertrude (Ford) Helmick. He married Tessie Williams on April 28, 1940, and they shared 61 years together before she passed away in 2001. Their older son, Roger, is the father of Scott and Debra Helmick and stepfather of Scott Hatfield and Kelly DiSabato. Kelly and her husband, Eric, are the parents of Jackson and Carte. The

younger of Ken and Tessie's sons, the late Thomas Helmick, was the father of Andrew Helmick and Lea Mederer. Great grandchildren include Andrew's daughter, Dayna Helmick, and Lila, Brynn and Zachary Mederer, children of Lea and Jordan Mederer. Ken graduated from Etna High School in 1934 and attended annual alumni reunions for more than 80 years. After graduation, Ken signed a baseball contract as a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinal's farm team in the old Alabama-Flori da Baseball League. After a few years his contract was traded to the Detroit Tigers farm team, but Ken chose to end his baseball career and return home and start his life with Tess.Late into World War II, in April 1945, Ken was drafted and sent to Texas for training. He boarded a train to Seattle, where they learned that their assigned mission was to be part of Operation Downfall, the planned Allied invasion of Japan, but the operation was cancelled when Japan surrendered. In Japan, Ken was assigned to the 29th Medical Depot Company, based in Kobe, where they slept on cots in unheated barracks, listening as the rats scuffled in and out of the nearby garbage cans. During his eleven months in Japan, Ken couriered medical supplies between Hiroshima and Nagasaki,and earned the Asiatic Pacific Theater Ribbon, the Victory Medal and the Army of Occupation Medal,Japan. Following his military service, the GI Bill provided the means to take accounting classes at Bliss College while he supported his family by delivering milk in a horse-drawn wagon for the Hamilton Milk Company in Columbus. Upon graduation, he began working at City National Bank (later known as BankOne and then as JP Morgan Chase Bank). He retired from banking in 1976 after rising to the position of Vice President, managing both the West Broad and Hilliard branches.Ken was a Past Master of Pataskala Lodge #404 (he received his 75-year pin in a ceremony in 2016), and a 32° Master Mason of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Valley of Columbus. After his young family relocated from Pataskala in the mid 1950's, Ken became a valued and respected member of the Columbus Westgate neighborhood, serving as an officer in the Hilltop Businessmen's Association, the Hilltop (Westgate) Kiwanis and the Columbus Hilltop Lions Club. Ken and Tess were active members of Parkview United Methodist Church, where Ken served for many years as treasurer and as a volunteer in their community food pantry. Ken's siblings, brothers Ralph, Emerson, and Dale, and sisters Thelma Petty and Ruth Brooks, have all predeceased him. In addition to his immediate family, which also includes daughters-in-law Patricia and Nancy, Ken's extended family includes his nieces Sue Gross, Judy Pound, Carolyn Woods, Charlene Mettler and the late Janice Mills, and his nephews Joe Helmick and the late David Helmick and his longtime companion Joanne Hylton.The family would also like to thank Mill Run Rehabilitation and Care Center and Bella Care Hospice for taking such great care of Ken. Family will receive friends on Thursday February 28, 2019 at HEART AND HOPE FUNERAL HOME by SCHOEDINGER at 3030 W. Broad St. Columbus, Oh 43204 from 11am-1 pm with a funeral service to follow at 1 p.m. Pastor Floyd Hubbell to officiate. In lieu of flowers please make a charitable contribution to the Central Ohio Diabetes Association 1100 Dennison Ave. Columbus, Oh 43201. May his soul light up the heavens.