Donna Jean Helmerson passed away peacefully Thursday, September 11, 2014 at the Cook County North Shore Care Center where she had been residing since June 2009. She was 84 years old and had been afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease for the past 13 years.
Donna was born on December 19, 1929 to John and Sophia (Larsen) Bast in Galena Township, Martin County, Minnesota. She had two older brothers Lloyd Bast (who died in infancy) and Robert “Bob” Bast.
Donna grew up on her family’s farm, attended a one-room elementary country schoolhouse and graduated from Fairmont High School in 1947. As a youngster she was active in 4-H raising calves for the county fair competitions. She had several horses over the years, but her last horse was her favorite–Tony. She rode western style in many competitions during her high school and college years. She loved animals and her scrapbooks were filled with photos of her dogs, horses, livestock and even the ducks and chickens!
Donna enjoyed music and most of all dancing the jitterbug – she was a true “bobby soxer.” She was also a musician, playing the piano and violin at home and the saxophone in her high school and college bands.
Donna attended Wisconsin State Teachers College in La Crosse, Wisconsin and graduated with a teaching degree in physical education and recreation in 1951. She participated in numerous intramural sports in college, but softball was probably her favorite.
The summer after graduation was spent visiting her aunt and uncle in Sitka, Alaska–a place she always wanted to revisit someday. She taught in Shawano, Wisconsin and Sparta, Wisconsin before meeting Glenn Helmerson of Grand Marais while visiting her parents at their cabin on Pike Lake. A neighboring resort owner told her “you have to meet Glenn” and the rest is history. They were married in St. Paul in January 1954 and made their first home in Grand Marais.
After the birth of her first son, Donna started teaching girls’ phy-ed at Cook County High School in 1955 as a longterm substitute until the school district could find a “single girl” who was available to fill the position. When Donna became pregnant with her second son she vacated the position and a single girl was found to replace her, but she quit about a year and a half later. Donna was rehired in 1958 and remained at CCHS until she retired in December 1987.
Donna was a pioneer in girls’ high school athletics. In the 1950s and 1960s the only sports activity girls could participate in was the Girls Athletic Association (GAA), which was an intramural program. The girls would travel to other schools on what were called “Play Days” to participate in volleyball or field hockey matches. Because all schools had to disassemble their teams and mix them in a potpourri of girls from other schools, no team scores were kept. Donna finally convinced some coaches to bend the rules a little, and have their girls compete as teams to see how each matched up. By 1970 GAA and girls interscholastic sports mixed. It wasn’t long before GAA was out, and competitive girls’ interscholastic sports were all the way in.
Donna coached field hockey, gymnastics, volleyball and track and from the mid-70s until 1984 many of these teams and individuals qualified for a trip to the state meet. Along with her male counterparts at CCHS she built the phy-ed program up to 10 hours a week, raised sports programs out of the germs of ideas, and in the process gained the respect of her peers both far and wide and of her students and athletes, many of whom followed her into the teaching profession.
She also spent six years working as a labor negotiator for the teachers’ union, including serving one term as president of the CCHS Teachers Association. Donna so excelled at her job that she was offered the position of associate director of Minnesota High School Athletics, but it would have meant leaving Grand Marais and moving to the Twin Cities, so she declined.
Throughout her teaching years Donna also participated in league golf (winning many league championships), curling and bowling. The family purchased their first “big boat” in 1970 and began enjoying fishing up and down the shore on Lake Superior and numerous trips to Isle Royale. Donna was also a charter member of Grand Marais Coast Guard Auxiliary.
After her retirement Donna and Glenn spent their winters in Venice, Florida where they also participated in golf leagues and Donna took up duplicate bridge, which she had played as a young woman. They had a boat in Florida, so much time was spent on the Intracoastal Waterway and fishing on the Gulf of Mexico. They sold their house in Grand Marais and spent summers in their trailer in the Tourist Park. She often umpired softball games down in the park and also kept busy booking fishing charters for her son Clint. When Superior National Golf Course opened she was one of the first to volunteer as a “greeter” in exchange for free greens fees.
After Glenn’s passing in 2000 Donna acquired a toy poodle puppy she named Mikey who was her faithful companion and friend until she entered the Care Center.
Donna is preceded in death by her husband of 46 years, Glenn Helmerson, her parents and her two brothers.
Donna is survived by her two sons, Dan Helmerson of Venice, Florida and Clint Helmerson of Sarasota, Florida.
Visitation at 1 p.m. and services at 2 p.m. on Thursday, September 25, 2014 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Grand Marais. A short graveside service will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 27, 2014 at Poplar Grove Cemetery in Grand Marais followed by a gathering for reminiscing at The Landing at Devil Track Resort.
Leave a Reply