Paul Helms
| Paul Helms | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
September 19, 1889 Ottawa, Kansas |
| Died | January 5, 1957 (aged 67) Palm Springs, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Baking industry executive, sports philanthropist |
| Known for | Helms Bakery, Helms Athletic Foundation |
Paul Hoy Helms (September 19, 1889 – January 5, 1957) was an American executive in the baking industry and sports philanthropist. He founded the Helms Bakery in 1931 and the Helms Athletic Foundation with Bill Schroeder in 1936.
Helms was born in Ottawa, Kansas. His father, Rev. Dr. Elmer Ellsworth Helms, a Methodist Minister, married Ora Ella Hoy on July 26, 1888. His mother died on May 12, 1893, during childbirth when he was three years old.
Upon the death of his mother, his father sent Paul to move in with his maternal uncle, William E. "Dummy" Hoy. (Hoy was a deaf-mute and a Major League Baseball player who played for the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox. He led the team during the to win the AL pennant.) Helms lived on his uncle's dairy farm in Mount Healthy, Ohio, outside Cincinnati, with his aunt Anna Maria (who was also deaf) and their six children.
Helms attended school in Buffalo, New York and then matriculated at Syracuse University, where he was a coxswain on the crew team. He graduated from Syracuse University in 1912.
After graduating from Syracuse in 1912, Helms began working as a life insurance agent in Pennsylvania, where he met and married Pearl Ellis. After two years, they moved to New York, where Helms started a small bakery taking it from one route to 200. In 1926 at the age of 37, he was forced to retire from his bakery business due to poor health. In 1928 he moved his family to Los Angeles, where he stated, "within a few months, I was itching to get back to work."
On March 2, 1931, Helms opened Helms Bakery at the corner of Venice and Washington in Los Angeles County. He employed 32 people and owned 11 trucks, referred to as coaches. The Twincoach Helm's bakery truck, with its recognized two-tone custom paint job, is on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. The building, and Helms' actual desk, straddles the city line between Culver City and Los Angeles.
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