[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 110 (Thursday, July 21, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1381]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO FRED HELMSING

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 21, 2011

  Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise with sadness to note the recent 
passing of Mr. Fred Helmsing, a prominent Mobilian and a distinguished 
south Alabama attorney who was much respected in our community. Mr. 
Helmsing passed away on July 9 at the age of 70.
  A native of Mobile, Fred was a graduate of McGill Institute, Spring 
Hill College, the University of Alabama School of Law, and New York 
University. Upon completion of his education, he returned home to 
Mobile where he embarked upon a long and respected career as an 
attorney.
  Over more than four decades in the legal profession, Mr. Helmsing 
rose to become the senior partner of one of Mobile's leading law firms, 
Helmsing, Leach, Herlong, Newman and Rouse. He was also active in many 
local civic and charitable organizations.
  A noted jurist who specialized in complex civil and white-collar 
criminal litigation, Mr. Helmsing was a member of the Alabama Bar 
Association, the Florida Bar Association, the Mobile County Bar 
Association, the Litigation and Taxation Sections of the American Bar 
Association, and the Farrah Law Society. He was also a fellow in the 
America College of Trial Lawyers and the Alabama Law Foundation.
  Known to his family and close friends as ``Big Fred,'' Mr. Helmsing 
took great pleasure in the outdoors and conveyed his love of nature to 
others. He held a livelong passion for travel and hunting and fishing 
and was fond of fly-fishing in the American West and shooting pheasants 
in England. He also spent much time at his hunting lodge in Monroe 
County, Alabama.
  Mr. Speaker, Mobile's legal community and, indeed, all of south 
Alabama lost a dear friend with Fred Helmsing's passing. I wish to 
extend my deepest condolences to his lovely wife of 42 years, Susan; 
their sons, Frederick and Guy; their daughter, Margaret; his mother, 
Gertrude; and his two brothers, sister and five grandchildren, as well 
as a long list of close friends. You are all in our thoughts and 
prayers as, together, we honor the legacy of a truly good man and great 
friend.

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