William Hellman, Helena, Montana
LOCATION: The National Smokejumper Association hosted the Mann Gulch 75th Anniversary Memorial Tribute for William Hellman at the C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery in Kalispell, Montana, on August 8, 2024. Hellman, 24, in his fourth season of smokejumping, died on August 5, 1949, in the Mann Gulch fire along with twelve other Missoula smokejumpers in the Mann Gulch Fire. James Harrison was formerly a Missoula smokejumper but was a fireguard at Meriwether Campground when he died. Due to the proximity of William Hellman and Henry Thol’s gravesites at the same cemetery, both ceremonies were held on the same day.
Site Coordinators: Chuck Underwood (MSO 61), Dan Robeson (MSO 75) & Eric Shelton (GAC 92), and Tory Kendrick (MSO 00)
BIOGRAPHY: William was born in Kalispell, Montana, on August 3, 1925. He attended Flathead County High School, intending to pursue a career in science and botany. He would have graduated with the class of 1943, but he volunteered to join the Navy at 17 and later transferred to the US Marine Corps to become a combat medical corpsman. Hellman took part in many Pacific Island invasions during WWII and eventually served in occupied Japan. Upon his discharge, he married Geraldine Mather of Kalispell on September 18, 1946 – the same year he rookied with the smokejumpers in Missoula.
He attended Montana State University for two years, then transferred to Northern Montana College in Havre. By the summer of 1949, he was only a few months shy of his degree at the Colorado State College of Education in Greeley. Hellman had ambitions to become a botany teacher and left behind a wife and a son who was a month-and-a-half old. Just two weeks before the fire, Hellman had taken part in an honorary smokejumping exhibition at the White House lawn, and he was just a few months shy of completing his teaching degree when he died.
Hellman had been hesitant to go on that trip because of the pending birth of his son. But was honored to be asked to participate in the ceremony. Their son was born the day before his jump onto the mall. When William died in the Mann Gulch fire, he left behind his wife and their two-and-a-half-month-old infant son. Tragically, their son died of a ruptured diaphragm in November 1949.
Bill’s wife described him as a fine young man from an excellent family. She also said he was a great husband and a great father to their son. They had been married for 3 years when he died. Hellman’s wife remarried, and her daughter, Genine Berard, joined Hellman’s cousin, Mary-June Jankowiak, for the ceremony.
“They call him Bill here, but we always called him ‘Willy,’” said Jankowiak, who was only two months old when Hellman died. She said that after the death of Hellman’s son, his parents, whom she called Uncle Jim and Aunt Mary, treated her like their own grandchild. Jankowiak described “Willy” as a woodsman and a man of honor. Berard said that most of the stories she heard about Hellman came from her grandmother because her mother would often refrain from talking about him. “After she lost Bill and then the baby, she was pretty upset,” Berard said. “That was a really hard time for her.” As Underwood told the crowd, Hellman’s wife, Geraldine Mather, grew up in the same neighborhood as Henry Thol.
RELATIVES: The tribute registry had 62 signatures, including eight family members, Susan Hellman Mather, Jill Hellman Kaufman, Mary Jankowiak, Juliana Hellman, Lonnie Heister, Steven Jankowiak, Scotte Vlasak, Jael Prezeau, and four family friends.
CEREMONY: 62 attendees, including the Hellman family and their friends, signed the tribute registry. There were nine family members and four friends of the Hellman family. Two honored guests included Eric and Sue Sallee, relatives of Bob Sallee, one of the three survivors of the Mann Gulch fire. Most who attended Hellman’s memorial also attended Henry Thol’s memorial in the same cemetery. Former smokejumper Chuck Underwood led the service for Hellman with the help of Dan Roberson. For the ceremony, the Hellman family placed a splinter of charred wood from the Mann Gulch Fire site on William’s headstone along with his WWII military dog tag. After the memorial, Underwood presented the family with flowers and a vase donated by Harvest Foods of Bigfork, Montana. Chuck’s wife, Carla, assisted in preparations by handling correspondence and logistics. Tory Kendrick helped coordinate both events and liaised between the NSA national effort and the Kalispell memorials.
Thanks to the United Veterans of Flathead Valley Honor Guard, led by Captain Mary Lou Fitzpatrick, for an outstanding tribute that included the presentation of the colors and the playing of Taps. Dawn Underwood and Kevin Kleckner hung parachute shroud lines in pine trees near both gravesites and hoisted two parachutes that Dan Roberson borrowed to add authenticity to the ceremonies.
RECOGNITION: Thirteen smokejumpers attended, including Jim Browne (MSO 49), Rick Cunningham (MSO 74), Sarah Doehring (MSO 91), Richard Hildner (MSO 67), Dick Hughes (MSO 64), Tory Kendrick (MSO 00), Menno Troyer (MSO 68), Mike Oehlerich (MSO 60), Michael Prezeau (MSO 67), Dan Roberson (MSO 75), Eric Shelton (GAC 92), Bob Smee (MSO 68), and Chuck Underwood (MSO 61).
Chuck Underwood noted that Eric Shelton had jumped into the South Canyon Fire on Storm King Mountain in 1994, where 14 firefighters, including smokejumpers, hotshots, and a helicopter crew, perished. He shared the pain of his experience with both the Thol and Hellman family members. Eleven wildland firefighters attended, including members of the Flathead Hotshots and wildland firefighters from the Bitterroot National Forest. NSA board member Sarah Doehring (MSO 91) was also a jumper at the South Canyon fire. In addition to attending the memorials for William Hellman, Henry Thol, James Harrison, Eldon Diettert, Marvin Sherman, and Philip McVey, she was instrumental at the national level, locating family members for all the Mann Gulch victims.
The NSA provided a special brass medallion affixed to Hellman’s gravestone so anyone who read the inscription would know that Bill Hellman was indeed a hero recognized by the National Smokejumper Association.
MEDIA: Mike Kordenbrock (writer) Flathead Beacon newspaper, Aug 12, 2024.
