Harold Hellbaum

Harold Hellbaum (September 26, 1926 – March 9, 2007)^[1] was a farmer, rancher, businessman, and politician in rural Platte County near Wheatland north of the capital city of Cheyenne, Wyoming. A Republican, he was from 1963 to 1976 a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives; in his last term from 1975 to 1976, he was the House Speaker.

Hellbaum was born in Wheatland to Herman Arnold 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 Grain Elevator Company.​ Earlier, he 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.​ Besides his farm and ranch activities, he was also involved in concrete, banking, and commercial development.​^[2]

He was first elected to the legislature in 1962 during the administration of Republican Governor Clifford Peter Hansen (1912-2009). His service ended when he was Speaker during the administration of Democratic Governor Edgar Herschler (1918-1990).

Even after he left the state House of Representatives, 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.​^[2]

On September 17, 1950, Hellbaum married the former Margaret L. "Peggy" Otis (1927-2002).​ Hellbaum died in the 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.​ Hellbaum and his wife are interred at Chugwater Cemetery in Chugwater.​^[2]

After Hellbaum's death, three other former Cheyenne-area lawmakers died within three months of one another: Republicans Joseph David Selby (1950-2007) and Larry Shippy on June 8, and Democratic Representative Edwin H. "Ed" Whitehead (1925-2007) on May 20.

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