Following is Uncle Leo's Obituary which tells a lot about him. I remember him as being very nice & somewhat quiet. I never saw the "tough" side described below. He enjoyed visiting with Jim, Fran, & I - & we knew that he liked all of us.
Leo Hellings Obituary
Lewiston Tribune, Thursday, April 19, 1973
Leo W. Hellings, 77, died yesterday morning at 6:05 at Tri-State Memorial Hospital of cancer. The former Clarkston Police Chief had been a "Tough Cop" who often helped down-and-outers with an overnight bunk at the city jail and cash for a new start from his own pocket, Clarkston residents said.
Hellings, Asotin Police Court Judge at the time of his death, served in the Clarkston Fire Department for 42 years and was Police Judge at Asotin for nearly six years.
Among those who remember Hellings as Police Chief yesterday was Clarkston City Treasurer Betty R, Eckman.
Hellings had a good professional manner toward those he encountered professionally while serving as Police Chief, she said. Somehow, Hellings always found time to counsel troubled couples after being called to halt blows during a family argument.
Hellings took the job of Chief of Police in 1944, when he was the city's only policeman. Asotin County Sheriff Herbert C. Reeves once put Hellings' reputation for toughness this way: "Sure the chief was tough when he had to be, the way any good policeman is," Reeves said, "But he was always fair. He served the needs of the community and he kept a cap on the criminal element. That was his job, and he did it.
"But he was a kindly man, even then. I doubt that anyone will really know how many needy people he helped. People were always coming through town without anything to eat or any place to stay. Leo Hellings was always doing what he could to help them. And I know personally that often as not he had to reach into his own pocket to do it," Reeves said. The sheriff served under Hellings for 15 years as a Clarkston Police Officer.
Hellings was born November 30, 1895 at Louisiana Missouri to Mr. & Mrs. Lee. M Hellings. He lived in Huntsville, Alabama; New York, New York; and St. Louis, Missouri during his early childhood.
He moved to Clarkston in 1909, and has lived in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley ever since, with the exception of three years spent homesteading in Alberta, Canada.
He was employed for 25 years by the former Lewiston Mercantile, a wholesale grocery firm and he worked for four years as a salesman for Mason-Erhman Co. before being appointed Police Chief.
He served under five different Mayors before retirement. Hellings was a member of the Northwest Sheriff's Association, the Lewis-Clark Peace Officer's Association, and was a member of the Washington Division of the International Association for Identification and the Associated Police Communications Officer's Inc., Inland Empire Chapter. He was also a member of the Clarkston Lions Club.
He married the former Eddeth Shackelford of Clarkston in 1917 at Lewiston.
Survivors are the widow, who resides at the family home, 936 3rd Street, Clarkston, and one son, Richard L. Hellings of Spokane.
The funeral will be Friday at 10 a. m. at Merchant Funeral Home, the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Hugo Pautler of Holy Family Catholic Church officiating. Burial will follow at Vineland Cemetery. The family suggested memorial contributions to the American Cancer Society.
Leo Hellings Obituary
Lewiston Tribune, Thursday, April 19, 1973
Leo W. Hellings, 77, died yesterday morning at 6:05 at Tri-State Memorial Hospital of cancer. The former Clarkston Police Chief had been a "Tough Cop" who often helped down-and-outers with an overnight bunk at the city jail and cash for a new start from his own pocket, Clarkston residents said.
Hellings, Asotin Police Court Judge at the time of his death, served in the Clarkston Fire Department for 42 years and was Police Judge at Asotin for nearly six years.
Among those who remember Hellings as Police Chief yesterday was Clarkston City Treasurer Betty R, Eckman.
Hellings had a good professional manner toward those he encountered professionally while serving as Police Chief, she said. Somehow, Hellings always found time to counsel troubled couples after being called to halt blows during a family argument.
Hellings took the job of Chief of Police in 1944, when he was the city's only policeman. Asotin County Sheriff Herbert C. Reeves once put Hellings' reputation for toughness this way: "Sure the chief was tough when he had to be, the way any good policeman is," Reeves said, "But he was always fair. He served the needs of the community and he kept a cap on the criminal element. That was his job, and he did it.
"But he was a kindly man, even then. I doubt that anyone will really know how many needy people he helped. People were always coming through town without anything to eat or any place to stay. Leo Hellings was always doing what he could to help them. And I know personally that often as not he had to reach into his own pocket to do it," Reeves said. The sheriff served under Hellings for 15 years as a Clarkston Police Officer.
Hellings was born November 30, 1895 at Louisiana Missouri to Mr. & Mrs. Lee. M Hellings. He lived in Huntsville, Alabama; New York, New York; and St. Louis, Missouri during his early childhood.
He moved to Clarkston in 1909, and has lived in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley ever since, with the exception of three years spent homesteading in Alberta, Canada.
He was employed for 25 years by the former Lewiston Mercantile, a wholesale grocery firm and he worked for four years as a salesman for Mason-Erhman Co. before being appointed Police Chief.
He served under five different Mayors before retirement. Hellings was a member of the Northwest Sheriff's Association, the Lewis-Clark Peace Officer's Association, and was a member of the Washington Division of the International Association for Identification and the Associated Police Communications Officer's Inc., Inland Empire Chapter. He was also a member of the Clarkston Lions Club.
He married the former Eddeth Shackelford of Clarkston in 1917 at Lewiston.
Survivors are the widow, who resides at the family home, 936 3rd Street, Clarkston, and one son, Richard L. Hellings of Spokane.
The funeral will be Friday at 10 a. m. at Merchant Funeral Home, the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Hugo Pautler of Holy Family Catholic Church officiating. Burial will follow at Vineland Cemetery. The family suggested memorial contributions to the American Cancer Society.
Following is Uncle Leo's Obituary which tells a lot about him. I remember him as being very nice & somewhat quiet. I never saw the "tough" side described below. He enjoyed visiting with Jim, Fran, & I - & we knew that he liked all of us.
Leo Hellings Obituary
Lewiston Tribune, Thursday, April 19, 1973
Leo W. Hellings, 77, died yesterday morning at 6:05 at Tri-State Memorial Hospital of cancer. The former Clarkston Police Chief had been a "Tough Cop" who often helped down-and-outers with an overnight bunk at the city jail and cash for a new start from his own pocket, Clarkston residents said.
Hellings, Asotin Police Court Judge at the time of his death, served in the Clarkston Fire Department for 42 years and was Police Judge at Asotin for nearly six years.
Among those who remember Hellings as Police Chief yesterday was Clarkston City Treasurer Betty R, Eckman.
Hellings had a good professional manner toward those he encountered professionally while serving as Police Chief, she said. Somehow, Hellings always found time to counsel troubled couples after being called to halt blows during a family argument.
Hellings took the job of Chief of Police in 1944, when he was the city's only policeman. Asotin County Sheriff Herbert C. Reeves once put Hellings' reputation for toughness this way: "Sure the chief was tough when he had to be, the way any good policeman is," Reeves said, "But he was always fair. He served the needs of the community and he kept a cap on the criminal element. That was his job, and he did it.
"But he was a kindly man, even then. I doubt that anyone will really know how many needy people he helped. People were always coming through town without anything to eat or any place to stay. Leo Hellings was always doing what he could to help them. And I know personally that often as not he had to reach into his own pocket to do it," Reeves said. The sheriff served under Hellings for 15 years as a Clarkston Police Officer.
Hellings was born November 30, 1895 at Louisiana Missouri to Mr. & Mrs. Lee. M Hellings. He lived in Huntsville, Alabama; New York, New York; and St. Louis, Missouri during his early childhood.
He moved to Clarkston in 1909, and has lived in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley ever since, with the exception of three years spent homesteading in Alberta, Canada.
He was employed for 25 years by the former Lewiston Mercantile, a wholesale grocery firm and he worked for four years as a salesman for Mason-Erhman Co. before being appointed Police Chief.
He served under five different Mayors before retirement. Hellings was a member of the Northwest Sheriff's Association, the Lewis-Clark Peace Officer's Association, and was a member of the Washington Division of the International Association for Identification and the Associated Police Communications Officer's Inc., Inland Empire Chapter. He was also a member of the Clarkston Lions Club.
He married the former Eddeth Shackelford of Clarkston in 1917 at Lewiston.
Survivors are the widow, who resides at the family home, 936 3rd Street, Clarkston, and one son, Richard L. Hellings of Spokane.
The funeral will be Friday at 10 a. m. at Merchant Funeral Home, the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Hugo Pautler of Holy Family Catholic Church officiating. Burial will follow at Vineland Cemetery. The family suggested memorial contributions to the American Cancer Society.
Leo Hellings Obituary
Lewiston Tribune, Thursday, April 19, 1973
Leo W. Hellings, 77, died yesterday morning at 6:05 at Tri-State Memorial Hospital of cancer. The former Clarkston Police Chief had been a "Tough Cop" who often helped down-and-outers with an overnight bunk at the city jail and cash for a new start from his own pocket, Clarkston residents said.
Hellings, Asotin Police Court Judge at the time of his death, served in the Clarkston Fire Department for 42 years and was Police Judge at Asotin for nearly six years.
Among those who remember Hellings as Police Chief yesterday was Clarkston City Treasurer Betty R, Eckman.
Hellings had a good professional manner toward those he encountered professionally while serving as Police Chief, she said. Somehow, Hellings always found time to counsel troubled couples after being called to halt blows during a family argument.
Hellings took the job of Chief of Police in 1944, when he was the city's only policeman. Asotin County Sheriff Herbert C. Reeves once put Hellings' reputation for toughness this way: "Sure the chief was tough when he had to be, the way any good policeman is," Reeves said, "But he was always fair. He served the needs of the community and he kept a cap on the criminal element. That was his job, and he did it.
"But he was a kindly man, even then. I doubt that anyone will really know how many needy people he helped. People were always coming through town without anything to eat or any place to stay. Leo Hellings was always doing what he could to help them. And I know personally that often as not he had to reach into his own pocket to do it," Reeves said. The sheriff served under Hellings for 15 years as a Clarkston Police Officer.
Hellings was born November 30, 1895 at Louisiana Missouri to Mr. & Mrs. Lee. M Hellings. He lived in Huntsville, Alabama; New York, New York; and St. Louis, Missouri during his early childhood.
He moved to Clarkston in 1909, and has lived in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley ever since, with the exception of three years spent homesteading in Alberta, Canada.
He was employed for 25 years by the former Lewiston Mercantile, a wholesale grocery firm and he worked for four years as a salesman for Mason-Erhman Co. before being appointed Police Chief.
He served under five different Mayors before retirement. Hellings was a member of the Northwest Sheriff's Association, the Lewis-Clark Peace Officer's Association, and was a member of the Washington Division of the International Association for Identification and the Associated Police Communications Officer's Inc., Inland Empire Chapter. He was also a member of the Clarkston Lions Club.
He married the former Eddeth Shackelford of Clarkston in 1917 at Lewiston.
Survivors are the widow, who resides at the family home, 936 3rd Street, Clarkston, and one son, Richard L. Hellings of Spokane.
The funeral will be Friday at 10 a. m. at Merchant Funeral Home, the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Hugo Pautler of Holy Family Catholic Church officiating. Burial will follow at Vineland Cemetery. The family suggested memorial contributions to the American Cancer Society.
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