SHEBOYGAN — It's been a tough week for the Helmer family as they process the passing of 52-year-old Chris Helmer — a brother, a husband and a father.
He was also the principal at Horizon Elementary School in Plymouth, a job he only held for a year. But he spent more than two decades in Wisconsin school districts, mostly as a special education teacher.
Chris's family knew that although he loved work, he still made time for them.
"[I've been] a little bit autopilot," his wife Tina said. "I made a promise to him that I wouldn't disengage, that I would stay active and engaged...and I'm keeping that promise."
This year marked their 20th wedding anniversary. She and Chris met when they worked at the same school. She's a school psychologist.
"He's a very hard worker. He always dedicates 100 percent of himself in anything he does."
Tina said that's what drew her to him.
"Throughout his treatment, he would go to work. He would have hoses attached to his port with chemo for two more days and he would be at work."
Chris spent the last two years battling colorectal cancer. At first, the prognosis looked good, but the tumors were aggressive and spread quickly.
His youngest son Ryan, 15, is trying to find ways to cope.
"I've just been trying not to think about it. I've been picking up a lot of work just to get my mind off of it," Ryan noted.
He holds four different jobs, just one way he takes after his father.
Watch: Family remembers a beloved Plymouth principal.
The family said Chris was a natural leader but preferred to go by a different title.
"He was the educational Jedi master, not the principal, of our school,' his sister Tracy said, who also works at Horizon as the librarian.
"He's just the biggest dork," his youngest sister Holly added, laughing.
Both sisters had unique bonds with Chris. Tracy was his work pal.
"I am not looking forward to the school year. It's been hard to think of what this year is going to be like."
And Holly was his near birthday twin.
"This birthday is going to be a little harder. Our birthdays were only two days apart," she explained through tears.
But through the grief are happy moments to remember Chris by.
Ryan said some of his fondest memories are building models and legos with his dad.
Tina, Tracy, and Holly flipped through several scrapbooks filled with pictures of childhood highlights, years at camp, and other life milestones.
Chris's keepsakes include cards and letters from former students, the majority of them Star Wars-themed.
"He's not going to be out of those hallways and the classrooms. He's still going to be there guiding those kids," Tracy remarked.
"Plymouth is a small community, and so in a sense, we're all family. When people reach out to me, I find comfort and strength in that," Tina said. "I feel him with me so I know that...I'm not doing this alone."
A memorial service will begin at noon Wednesday, Aug. 21 at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Sheboygan Falls. Visitors can drop by from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20, and from 11:00 a.m. to noon Aug. 21. The service will be live-streamed at wenigfh.com.
Attendees are encouraged to wear a favorite Hawaiian shirt. In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to be put towards a scholarship in his name.
