Preceded by At-large seat Occupation Rancher; Businessman Spouse Otis Hellbaum Resigned 1976 Political party Republican Died March 9, 2007 Succeeded by Nels J. Smith | Resting place Chugwater Cemetery Role Farmer Party Republican Party Preceded by C.H. "Cliff" Davis Name Harold Hellbaum Education University of Wyoming | |
Born September 26, 1926
Wheatland, Platte County, Wyoming ( 1926-09-26 ) 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 to 1976. He was the House Speaker during his last two-year term from 1975 to 1976.
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 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 at Chugwater Cemetery in Chugwater.
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.