Retired assistant fire chief Helm left mark on all of St. Charles

As a longtime firefighter and assistant fire chief, Bill Helm preferred to keep a blaze from occurring in his hometown of St. Charles in the first place.

"One thing that really stands out about Bill Helm was caring about fire prevention and teaching all of the aldermen and fire personnel how important it was to stay modern and embrace the new standards in fire safety," former St. Charles Mayor Fred Norris said.

Helm, 80, died Saturday, succumbing to a recent series of blood clots that triggered a massive stroke two weeks ago.

Before retiring in 1986, Helm had served on the St. Charles Fire Department for 27 years, nearly 20 of those as the assistant chief to Karl "Kully" Madsen and Larry Swanson, who passed away in January after a heart attack.

Madsen reflected on his former assistant, remembering his diligence in keeping St. Charles as safe as possible with modern equipment and techniques.

"We started everything to modernize the department," said Madsen, who worked with Helm nearly 20 years. "Bill steered us through a lot of that process and it made us one of the best fire departments in the suburbs."

Norris saw Helm's influence touch the entire city after he created the Fire Prevention Bureau.

"In all honesty, Bill was really in the forefront of fire prevention and he trained all of the officers and virtually everyone in the city became fire-prevention conscious because of him," Norris said. "He was a big supporter of the spring junk cleanup because he viewed all of that extra stuff in people's attics and garages as fire hazards."

Helm's recent health issues started when he sat down to watch this year's Super Bowl game with his wife Betty in their winter home in Florida.

During the game, Helm experienced excruciating pain in his leg and ended up hospitalized with blood clots. It prolonged his winter stay in Florida, but he returned to his lifelong hometown of St. Charles in late spring in good health and good spirits.

But he suffered another clot and massive stroke on July 13 and, after a short hospital stay, returned to his home to be with family in his final hours.

"He was very content to be the assistant fire chief, and I don't think he ever really wanted to be the chief," said Betty, his wife of 63 years whom he first met at an Aurora rolling skating rink in 1945.

"He was a healthy guy and this was so unexpected," Betty added. "I still can't believe he won't be coming home today."

Betty and Bill Helm married at age of 18 in 1947, and she said that her husband often mentioned how much he enjoyed their time together and his retirement years.

"He said if anything ever happened to him, he had no regrets because he did everything he wanted to do," Betty said. "He was a great golfer and he loved sports of all kind."

He also loved his 1968 Buick Convertible, which he and Betty drove in various local parades with members of the Kane County Kar Club.

"We bought that car new, and we still have it," Betty said. "Bill loved that car."

Helm's other passion was working on behalf of child-abuse prevention, which spurred him to become the charter president of the Tri-Cities Exchange Club in 1979 and remain an active member until his death. He was chairman of the club's Salvation Army bell-ringing projects for many years.

Helm was a member of the St. Charles Moose and an usher at St. Patrick Church in St. Charles for more than 20 years.

"He was involved in a lot of little things that meant so much and were so important to his community," Norris said.

He is survived by his wife, three children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Visitation is scheduled for 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Yurs Funeral Home in St. Charles, with a funeral Mass at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the downtown St. Patrick Church.