Jim H Hellman

Jim H. Hellman
(January 23, 1934 – January 12, 2024)

Jim H. Hellman passed away on Friday, January 12, 2024, after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Jim was a beloved husband, father and grandfather. His kindness, generosity and willingness to help others were unmatched, and he was always a gentleman’s gentleman – polite, respectful and chivalrous. Jim was both intellectually and physically strong beyond words.

Joachim Heinz Hellmann was born on January 23, 1934, to Klara (Steudle) and Willi Hellmann in Berlin, Germany. “Achim” was the seventh of eight children and grew-up during WWII, having to learn a myriad of skills early in his life just to survive. He was orphaned as a young teenager and moved to Hamburg to live with relatives. He recounted true tales of his life and times about how, as a teenager, he had ridden his bicycle alone across the ruins of post-war Germany. He was blessed with artistic talent, worked well with his hands, and had a “good eye,” becoming an apprentice Ornamental Plasterer and participated in the early rebuilding of Berlin.

At the age of 20, Achim boarded a ship in Bremen with virtually just the clothes on his back and little money in his pockets and emigrated to Canada, spending a brutal Winter on a farm in Saskatchewan before moving to Ontario and working in an automotive glass factory. He dreamed of going to Hollywood and contributing his talents to the building of movie sets for the epics that were then being filmed, and entered the United States at Detroit in 1955. Jim joined the U.S. Navy and served from 1956-1957, where he met his lifelong best friend, Joe Fedewa, on their favorite ship, the USS Albany (CA-123).

He returned to Detroit after his honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy and later became a U.S. Citizen. He leveraged his talents as an Ornamental Plasterer and joined General Motors in Design Staff at the GM Tech Center in Warren as a clay modeler. He also worked in the shops with fiberglass, and later became a draftsman, having a successful career of 34 years. After his retirement from GM, Jim continued working in the automotive industry for several more years at the Masco Corporation on Mercedes Benz and Ford products, and Peterbilt’s 50th Anniversary truck, after which he retired from work-life a second time. He worked with his hands throughout his entire life, mastering several trade skills including woodworking, carpentry, electrical, plumbing, and car mechanics.

Jim was an adventurer and loved to travel to exotic locales, first through books as a child and then later as an adult by actually visiting them. He traveled with his wife and children to Niagara Falls, the Smokey Mountains, the Rocky Mountains, Florida for Apollo 11, and Germany. After the children grew up, he travelled with his wife, Rose Ann, to Aruba, Banff, Tahiti, Bora Bora, and multiple trips to Hawaii. He had a passion for photography and documented each trip with beautiful photographs, many of which he sold professionally. Jim loved people, was very social, and was a natural raconteur par excellence, sharing his experiences and stories, and enjoyed listening and learning from those of others. He was adored by his grandchildren and was the best “Grandpa” and he adored them right back.

Jim was preceded in death by his brothers Fritz, Willi (Anneliese), Reinhardt (Lilo), Klaus (Ursula), and his sisters Hannerose “Rose” (Carl) Strasburger and Christa (Georg) Ermisch.

Jim was also preceded in death by other close family and friends, Peter and Sally Steudle, Lester and Renate Crawford, Ingrid and Reinhold Mozer, and his lifelong best friend, Joseph (Alice) Fedewa.

Surviving are his wife of 65 years, Rose Ann (Linke), brother Jürgen (Joan), children Gordon, Roger (Martha) and Karen (Robert) Vito, grandchildren Natalie, Kevin, Hayley (Hunter) and Allison, as well as many nieces and nephews in the U.S. and Germany.

Jim’s family thanks the fabulous staff at Abbey Delray Memory Care and Trustbridge Hospice for the wonderful care they provided him and his family.

A Celebration of Life will be held with family and friends on January 27th at 10am at the Sea Oats Club House, 800 Sea Oats Dr, Juno Beach, FL. Jim’s immediate family will scatter his ashes at sea the following day.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org) in Memory of Jim Hellman.