Harold Hellbaum

Infobox_ State Representative
name= Harold Hellbaum
office= Wyoming State Representative from Platte County
party= Republican
term_start= 1963
term_end= 1977
preceded= At-large seat
succeeded= At-large seat

office2=Speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives
term_start2= 1975
term_end2= 1977
preceded2= C.H. "Cliff" Davis
succeeded2= Nels J. Smith

date of birth= September 26, 1926
date of death= March 9, 2007
place of birth= Wheatland, Wyoming
religion=
occupation= Rancher; Businessman
spouse= Margaret L. "Peggy" Otis Hellbaum (1927-2002); married 1950-her death
children= Rebecca H. "Becky" Hartmeister
Holly H. Johnston
Robert L. "Rob" Hellbaum
Bruce A. Hellbaum

Harold Hellbaum (September 26, 1926 - March 9, 2007) was a prominent farmer, rancher, and businessman in Platte County near Wheatland north of Cheyenne who was a Republican member of the Wyoming House of Representatives from 1963-1977. He was the House Speaker during his last two-year term from 1975-1977.

Hellbaum was born in Wheatland to Herman Hellbaum (1892-1970) and the former Lydia Lust (1895-1988). He was reared on the family farm near Chugwater, where he attended all twelve grades of public school, having graduated in 1944. He later attended the University of Wyoming in Laramie. After college, he returned to assist his father with raising wheat and cattle and running the Tri-County Elevator Company.

Hellbaum served on numerous boards and committees, including the Chugwater School Board and the Wyoming State Board of Education. He was a charter member of the trade association, the Wyoming Wheat Growers Association. He was a board member of the American Heritage Center of the University of Wyoming.

He was first elected to the legislature in 1962 during the administration of Republican Governor Clifford Hansen. His service ended when he was Speaker during the administration of Democratic Governor Edgar Herschler.

Even after he left the legislature, Hellbaum remained active in Republican politics. He attended several national party conventions as a delegate. When Ronald W. Reagan became U.S. president in 1981, Hellbaum retired from farming to become the Wyoming state director of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, a position which he retained until 1994.

Besides his farm and ranch activities, he was also involved in concrete, banking, and commercial development.

On September 17, 1950, Hellbaum married the former Margaret L. "Peggy" Otis (November 30, 1927 - May 10, 2002).

Hellbaum died in Platte County Memorial Hospital in Wheatland. He was survived by two daughters, Rebecca H. "Becky" Hartmeister of Lubbock, Texas, and Holly Johnston (born 1955) of Wheatland; two sons, Robert L. "Rob" Hellbaum (born 1958) of Chugwater and Bruce A. Hellbaum (born 1960) and wife Catherine of Wheatland, and six grandchildren, Aftann, 25, (Rob's), Angela, 22, (Rob's), Nathan, 20, (Rob's), Danielle, 17, (Holly's), Paige, 15, (Bruce's), and McKenzie, 13, (Bruce's).

Hellbaum is interred in Chugwater Cemetery.

After Hellbaum's death, three other former Cheyenne-area lawmakers died within three months: Republicans Joseph D. Selby on April 20 and Larry D. Shippy on June 8, and Democratic Representative Edwin H. Whitehead on May 20, 2007.

References

http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2007/03/12/news/obituaries/1f69e898e7139c278725729b007d825d.txt

ahc.uwyo.edu/documents/about/publications/annualreports/.../report.pdf

http://soswy.state.wy.us/informat/officers.htm

http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=&zip=82601&last=HELLBAUM&first=HAROLD

http://www.americanmissionary.org/