WWII veteran was Pearl Harbor survivor

Harry J. Helmsing, Jr., died Aug. 30, 2011, at Garden Terrace of Overland Park.

Services were Sept. 2, 2011, at D.W. Newcomer's Sons Overland Park Chapel. Private graveside services were at the Shawnee Mission (Kan.) Memorial Gardens.

Harry John Helmsing Jr. was born Nov. 20, 1921, in Kennard to Geneva and Harry Helmsing Sr.

He graduated from Kennard High School in the midst of the Great Depression and found work in the government's Civilian Conservation Corps. Enlisting in the United States Navy in 1940, he served in the Pacific Theater until 1946. He was a survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack of 1941, and belonged to the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. His name is inscribed on the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Mission, Kan.

After the war, he moved to Omaha and found employment at the Ford Motor Co., retiring in 1986. In Omaha, he met his future wife, Geneva V. Young. The couple married Sept. 17, 1948, in Omaha.

Because of his employment, the Helmsings moved from Omaha to Urbandale, Iowa, and finally to Roeland Park, Kan. The couple filled their retirement years with gardening, grandchildren, and volunteering at Metropolitan Lutheran Ministries in Kansas City, Mo.

He was respected by all who knew him for his integrity, generosity of spirit, and wry sense of humor.

He is survived by his wife, Geneva "Gee" of Overland Park, Kan.; daughters and sons-in-law, Janet and Nick Laurent of Emporia, Kan., and Joan and Tom Davidson of Prairie Village, Kan.; five grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and a brother, Howard Cook of Kennard.

He was preceded in death by his brothers, Jack Helmsing and Leo Helmsing; son, Steven Helmsing; grandson, Alan Nab; and a step-granddaughter, Dena Sorenson.

Memorials are suggested to the Metropolitan Lutheran Ministries, 3031 Holmes, Kansas City, MO 64109.

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Nebraska Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library at Blair, Nebraska.~~~

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