David Helfinstine's Mother Passes Away

Our thoughts, prayers, and condolences go out to David Helfinstine on the passing of his mother. This is the obituary that appears on eidsnessfuneralhome.com.

Jean M. Helfinstine
Jun 11 1920 - Dec 28 2010
Jean M. Helfinstine, age 90, of Brookings, died Tuesday, December 28, 2010, at the Brookings Hospital. Funeral services will be 10:30 A.M. Thursday, December 30, 2010, at First Presbyterian Church in Brookings, with interment in Greenwood Cemetery. Visitations will be from 5-8 P.M. Wednesday at Eidsness Funeral Home in Brookings. Memorials may be directed to the Rex & Jean Helfinstine Scholarship at SDSU or First Presbyterian Church. Jean M. (Fellows) Helfinstine was born June 11, 1920, at Janesville, Iowa, to Lloyd H. and Marian (Ballou) Fellows. She grew up in Waterloo, Iowa, and graduated from East Waterloo High School in 1938. She attended St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and transferred to Iowa State Teachers College (now UNI) in Cedar Falls, Iowa, graduating in 1946. She taught home economics, history, government, and English at Colesburg and Remsen, Iowa. She introduced and managed the school lunch program at Colesburg. On June 11, 1949, she married Rex D. Helfinstine at Berkeley, California. They lived in Fargo, North Dakota, in 1950 until 1951 where Rex was on the USDA staff at the university. Jean was a member of the faculty women’s chorus. She was employed at St. Luke’s Nursing School and taught a class in child growth and development to student nurses. In June 1952, the Helfinstines moved to Brookings where Rex was employed by the USDA and Extension Service. Rex died September 30, 1995. Jean was an active member of First Presbyterian Church, serving two terms as elder, teaching Sunday School, singing in the choir, and serving as president of Presbyterian Women. She organized and taught an ecumenical Bible class. She gave piano lessons for 23 years, retiring in 1976. She served as president of NARFE, was a member of the Saturday Literary Club, and served as pianist for Golden K Kiwanis for seven years. Her hobbies included gardening, knitting, sewing, and playing piano and organ.Survivors include a son, David Helfinstine and his wife, Cathy, of Willmar, Minnesota; and two grandchildren, Ryan Helfinstine and his special friend Erin, and Betsy Staley and her husband Adam; and five great-grandchildren: Cole, Tucker, and Koda Helfinstine, and Jack and Ellie Staley.

Lee Colburn To Be Inducted Into SD Basketball Hall Of Fame

This spring, the South Dakota Basketball Hall of Fame will induct several new members, including our classmate, the late Lee Colburn. Someone involved with that project gave me a call, inquiring if I had some old game films. Fortunately, I do. They are only regular-season games, however, and not from the state tournaments. When I go home in a few weeks, I will lend them to him so he can transfer them over to a more suitable format.
Also being inducted are Roger Nelson, a 1954 alumnus of BHS, and Renee Sallquist, a 1985 alumna. Roger was friends of our family. He has known me since I was born, and was one of the pallbearers for my brother's funeral in 1965. They had run around together in high school. Roger had individual scoring records for a game and a career for a number of years. Lee broke his single game record of 37 by scoring 38 in a game at Pierre in our senior year. Oddly enough, Roger was there. He was teaching at Onida, and had actually refereed the sophomore game that night. He told me later that he wanted to be in the stands when his record would be broken. His wish came true that night. His career record was broken about four years ago by a boy named Phil Workman. Phil had been playing varsity basketball since he was an eighth-grader, so it seemed like only a matter of time before he would become the career scoring leader for BHS. Since Roger still lives in Brookings, he saw that record fall, also.
I was extremely fortunate to be associated with the girls basketball teams during their first 20 years of existence, so it is truly gratifying to see Renee earn this honor, also. In the future, there will likely be other girls from that era who will achieve Hall of Fame status. That team was ranked in the top 5 in the nation by USA Today, and their coach was selected by that newspaper as the national coach of the year. He taught me so much about the game, and I am forever thankful. Congratulations to all of the new inductees.
On another related note, many of you may remember Mr. Stuart "Skip" Webster. He taught at the Junior High/Middle School for a number of years. I believe he also coached us in freshmen football (with Mr. Rykhus), and he definitely coached us in "JV" basketball, because I was on that team. I can only speak for myself, but he had a big influence on my chosen profession. After teaching for about 11 years, he started selling State Farm Insurance. That career change proved rather profitable for him, and he is retiring at the end of this month after 35 years in the business. From the class of 1969, we wish him the best.
Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Safe and Happy New Year.
On a sad note, Andy Zephier passed away on Dec. 14, 2010. He was the long-time coach at the Flandreau Indian School. We defeated them to earn a trip to the state "A" basketball tournament in 1968. He has been inducted into various South Dakota Halls of Fame, and was inducted into the National High School Athletic Coaches Hall of Fame this past summer. His cross-country teams were legendary back in the 1960's. Our condolences go out to him and his family.