Emanuel Helm

Emanuel Helm, 94, died September 1, 2004 in a Mandan care center. Services will be held at 3 PM Sunday at the Bismarck Baptist Church with the Rev. Don Burnett officiating. Burial will be held at 9 AM Tuesday at Sunset Memorial Gardens, Bismarck. Visitation will be held 3-9 PM Saturday, with a sharing time at 7 PM at Eastgate Funeral Service, Bismarck. Visitation will continue one hour prior to the service at the church. Emanuel was born June 21, 1910 in a sod house near Dodge, ND, the third son of Ludwig and Christine Fischer Helm. He attended rural school near Dodge and helped on his dad's farm until his marriage to Emma Lorenz at Zap, ND. They farmed near Golden valley, ND for a year and then he began working for Dakota Colliers Coal Mine at Strip Mine near Zap. During the summer months, when the coal mine closed, he worked at different jobs, picking fruit in California, working on the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington, and gold mining in Montana. He was mechanically inventive; always putting his new ideas to work and finding new areas of interest in life. In 1941 he bought a coal mine in New Salem, ND in partnership with Henry Flemmer. Emanuel also built an airport to house his airplane. He was well known as a pilot and for the air shows he held at New Salem. He loved flying and stayed with it, flying air lifts in bad winters to farmers in need of food, medicine, or medical attention. He flew until his 75th birthday. In 1948, he and two brothers bought a coal mine at Gascoyne and formed Helm Brothers Coal Mine and Construction. They then began stripping the underground coalmine at Beulah, ultimately selling his other coalmines to Knife River. He was instrumental in building the Beulah Belle and Prairie Rose Draglines in Beulah, Gascoyne, and Sidney, MT. He flew from place to place in his own plane. He moved to Bismarck and continued overseeing the coalmines and coal leases. He retired at 65 and then became a consultant for other companies that were building more draglines. He retired again at age 75. Emanuel's great joy was when someone would meet him and say, "You gave me my first plane ride." He loved flying and meeting people. He considered himself lucky to have been able to fly around the U.S. in a leer jet and meet people even though he only had a 4th grade education. His other goal was to play the organ by the time he was 40. He did accomplish that goal, and played beautifully without reading music. Emanuel bought himself an organ like Lawrence Welk's and later donated it to a small country church in need of an organ. Emanuel was a member of the Bismarck Baptist Church, where he would play for evening services and singspirations. He loved his family and especially his two granddaughters and great grand kids very much and stopped to see them any time he could. Emanuel is survived by his wife, Emma; one daughter and son-in-law, Myrna and Carl Petermann; two granddaughters, Carlynn Turner and Julie Bryant, and her husband, Michael; three great grandchildren, Carly, Scott, and Dacotah Turner; two step great granddaughters, Jessica and Olivia Bryant; one sister-in-law, Kathryn Helm; two brothers, Jack and August, and his wife, Ruth. He was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers, John, Fred, and Gust; two sisters, Maggie and Agnes; a grandson; and a grandson-in-law. He will be greatly missed for the twinkle in his blue eyes, his bright smile, his music, the little dance in his step, and the notes he left when no one was at home and he stopped by for cookies. In lieu of flowers, he would prefer a memorial to the Bismarck Baptist Church Building Fund or donor's choice.

Emanuel Helm

June 21, 1910 - September 1, 2004