Lee Helle: "I'm sure that all of the older cousin's can remember Uncle Walt's voice and his manner of speaking when he was a younger man? Trying not to break into another story I will just say that when I re-met my brother Kenneth in the late 80's I was astonished at his voice and manner of speaking. Anyone who remembers Uncle Walt could have closed their eyes and listened to Kenneth would have sworn that it was Walt speaking. Kenneth was never around Walt to copy his voice, this could only be in the genes. No way to prove it but I would wager a years pay that this same voice has surfaced in our ancestors every generation."

Jeff Helle: "Dad always had a lot of dogs. Some good, and some not so good. Dad took his dogs very serious. He lost some so called friends, because of what they said about those dogs. "Jerry Philips" being one of them. He did everything imaginable to those dogs to get them to quit running deer. Nothing ever worked. He finally started to "play ball" so to speak. Three strikes and your out. "Dirt Nap". Dad and Mom even went to Highland Kansas to get dogs. Don and I both made trips to the airport to pick up dogs. Harold Stabb told Dad that in every mans life he would own one dog that was above and beyond the rest. That dog would become a measuring stick, and no other dog would ever measure up. Apache was that dog for Dad. When we were kids, we used to split a lot of wood in the summer and winter. Don and I would never tell Dad that we were going to catch up with him, so we could go mess around. But low and behold we would wake up to the sound of a chainsaw. We would get dressed and go outside and there Dad was standing, grinning ear to ear. He'd say you boys swing those malls like your beat in' snakes. Now that I am older and have kids of my own. I look back and those were the good ol' days. I often think of the good times Dad, Don, and I had splitting wood. After I joined the Navy Seabees, there were lots of miles between us, and we seemed to grow closer. I guess that's where the boy became a man. I started to see things differently. Seeing all those other guys, I really started to appreciate the hard work ethic that Dad had preached to us. Dad always liked going deer hunting, in the anticipation of "the bigone". That's when we would talk. You name it, we talked about it. He was very observant person he would notice the littlest things, aspec of bloodin the snow, or even a leaf that was moved. When we were kids, Dad and Mom took us to Florida, and at the airport we watched fighter jets takeoff and land. He always said he'd love to fly one, just so he could" buzz" over Jerry Phillips while he was cultivating corn and hit the after-burners and peel the paint off the hood of the tractor. But to make a long story short, Apache died in the prime of his life. Dad also died in the prime of his life. I know that Grandpa Don and Dad have met in fox-hunter heaven."

Don Charles Helle: "I can remember being in the third grade when Dad and Grandpa Gene (Still) taught Jeff & I how to shake hands. First you look him in the eye, extend your hand and give him a good "firm" handshake. Looking a person in the eye was the point, he figured if you couldn't look a person in the eye, you must be scared or hiding something. Dad was strict and very disciplined he had standards for everything. You did things to meet his standards and if it wasn't good enough, you did it again. Life was good for us kids. We
grew up in Putnam, IL on a 60-acre farm. We grew some corn & beans plus had a few chickens nothing large though. I believe this is how he wanted to teach us his "Work Ethics". "If the jobs worth doing, then it's worth doing right the first time". Combined with work ethic is "Vigor". Dad would wake us up more than I'd care to remember to the sound of a chainsaw.  (Sharon Bearce)