Omar J. Helmuth

Omar J. Helmuth, age 96, was born August 6, 1927 in Kalona, Iowa, and entered the glory of heaven on January 22, 2024. His Celebration of Life service will be held Saturday, January 27, at 10:30 am at Crossroads Community Church in Pine Bluffs, Wyoming.

 In his early life, Omar attended the East Lincoln School and worked on the family farm in Iowa. He also spent time working as a mechanic and learning the carpenter trade. When he injured his hand in a planer while doing carpentry work, he decided to attend a Bible School for six weeks while his hand healed. However, while he was at Bible School the direction of his life changed when he felt the Lord calling him into mission work.

 Throughout the next years, Omar helped teach summer Bible school classes in several places in northern Minnesota, which is where his love for “the north” developed. He helped start church services in Nashwauk, Minnesota, and supported himself financially by working at a dairy. He built a little 8 x 10 cabin to live in while he was in the Nashwauk area.

 For several years Omar attended short-term Bible schools (Berlin Bible School and Ontario Mennonite Bible Institute) to increase his Bible knowledge and build his walk with the Lord and continued to help with outreach ministries in Minnesota. In 1958 he went to Canada to spend six weeks at a mission outpost near Red Lake, Ontario. That six weeks turned into five years. It was while he was in Canada operating a portable sawmill to saw logs for the mission that he met Emma Mae Nisly, who was also at a mission outpost.

 During his time of operating the sawmill, the mission sent Omar to a small community at McDowell Lake to turn logs into boards for building a little house and chapel for someone to come and teach the Bible to local Christians. That “someone” became Omar and his bride, Emma, whom he married on May 28, 1960. In addition to building a house, furniture, and connecting chapel, Omar and Emma taught and lived God’s Word and touched many lives in the northwest region of Ontario, Canada.

 After several years, Omar and Emma felt that their time in Canada was served and looked for a new ministry. Omar’s brother invited them to move to northern Minnesota to help with a church that had been planted as a result of the summer Bible school classes that Omar had earlier helped teach. In 1963 Omar, Emma, and their little daughter moved to the Balsam area of Minnesota where Omar helped his brother, Emery, with carpentry work and assisting with the church plant. This area of Minnesota became their home for the next 43 years, where two more daughters joined the family.

 Omar worked at several jobs during those years – delivering milk for Rantala Dairy; pumping gas, repairing tires, and delivering fuel oil for Latvala Oil Company; and driving school bus for School District 318 – while he was a self-supporting pastor of Balsam Lake Mennonite Chapel. He and Emma were a ministry team, working tirelessly to share the love of Jesus with those around them through church services, summer Bible school, release-time KYB Bible classes at the local public school, visiting the sick and elderly, teaching God’s word, and helping friends and neighbors.

 After retiring, Omar and Emma left their beloved “north” in 2006 and moved to Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, to be closer to family. However, they continued to impact lives by showing love, graciousness, and kindness to their new friends and neighbors. They were prayer warriors, spending countless hours praying for their children, grandchildren, and other family members, their friends, church, and Christian ministries and organizations.

 Omar has left an incredibly legacy to his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. His deep love for God and God’s Word, and the seeds he has planted will continue to touch lives and bear fruit for generations.

 Omar is survived by his wife and life partner of 63 years, Emma Mae; daughters Wanda and husband Curt Theobald of Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, Cary and husband Will Johnson of Spring, Texas, and Sharon and husband Loren Johnson of Dickinson, North Dakota; grandchildren Keziah and husband Peter Conrad, Ahava and husband Steven Baca, Yakira Johnson, Tirzah Johnson, Madison Johnson, Colten Johnson, Kadin Johnson, Merina Theobald, Karlyn Theobald; and his new great-granddaughter Adrielle Conrad; and one sister-in-law Susie Hostetler. He was preceded in death by his parents John and Mary Helmuth, five siblings (Fannie, Vina, Emery, Susie Anna, and Christian) and their spouses, and one granddaughter.