[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 167 (Tuesday, November 10, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7896-S7897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   REMEMBERING DOROTHY ``DOT'' HELMS

  Mr. TILLIS. Mr. President, I have the sad duty to report to the 
Senate the passing of the first lady of North Carolina, Dorothy ``Dot'' 
Helms. Mrs. Helms was known to many in this body as the ever gracious 
wife of my illustrious predecessor, Senator Jesse Helms.
  In fact, I chose to stand at this desk because it is the desk he 
stood behind for the many years as he served the United States and the 
great State of North Carolina in the Senate.
  For 66 years Dot Helms was the rock upon which the Helms legacy was 
built. Long before she met her future husband, Dot Helms was a 
trailblazer in North Carolina. She was the first woman to graduate from 
the University of North Carolina school of journalism in 1940, where 
she rubbed elbows with the likes of fellow Tar Heels, Edward R. Murrow 
and friend and classmate David Brinkley.
  While a reporter for the legendary owner-editor of the Raleigh News 
and Observer, Joseph Daniels, she met a young man on the sports desk 
named Jesse Helms, and the rest is history.

[[Page S7897]]

  Mrs. Helms was a leader in Christian causes, such as her sponsorship 
of the interdenominational children's camp Willow Run at Lake Gaston. 
While in Washington, she taught at Gallaudet University and actually 
wrote a book on great Americans who happened to be deaf.
  In the Senate, she was the leader of the Senate Ladies Bible Study, 
the Congressional Wives Prayer Group, and the U.S. Senate chapter of 
the Red Cross. She was a confidante and pillar for many friends on both 
sides of the aisle, including Elizabeth Dole, Erma Byrd, Beryl Bentsen, 
and Linda Johnson Robb.
  Politically, she was a close friend of Ronald and Nancy Reagan. In 
1976, she took the unusual step of campaigning tirelessly across the 
State of North Carolina in support of then-Governor Reagan's insurgent 
Presidential candidacy. Needless to say, the Governor carried the North 
Carolina primary against a sitting President in no small part due to 
the work of Dot Helms.
  Two years ago, Gov. Pat McCrory awarded Dorothy Helms the Order of 
the Long Leaf Pine for her contributions to the civic and religious 
life of the Tar Heel State. Fittingly, the Governor honored her with 
the official North Carolina State toast:

     Here's to the land of the long leaf pine,
     The summer land where the sun doth shine,
     Where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great,
     Here's to ``Down Home,'' the old North State!

  ``Where the strong grow great. . . . '' Dot Helms and North Carolina 
are one and the same. For her family and friends and a grateful nation, 
we can turn in comfort to the Second Book of Timothy: ``I have fought 
the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith.''
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the obituary of Mrs. 
Helms from the Jesse Helms Center Foundation in Monroe, NC, be printed 
in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                          Dorothy Coble Helms


                               1919-2015

       Dorothy Coble Helms, wife of former U.S. Senator Jesse 
     Helms, passed away on November 6, 2015. She was the daughter 
     of the late Jacob Lonnie and Coral Beaty Coble. Mrs. Helms 
     was born in Raleigh, N.C. on March 25, 1919. She was 
     graduated from Hugh Morson High School in Raleigh in 1936. 
     She attended Meredith College from 1936 to 1938 before 
     transferring to UNC-Chapel Hill, where she was graduated in 
     1940 with a degree in journalism. She and her roommate, Doris 
     Goerch Horton, were the first two women graduates to receive 
     degrees in journalism from UNC. Both women were reporters for 
     The Daily Tarheel, the school newspaper. Dot, as she was 
     called by her friends, was the first president of The McIver 
     Dormitory for Women and served on The Women's Council. She 
     loved to write and wrote many short stories beginning when 
     she was a teenager. Later in life, she delighted her family 
     by telling ghost stories, and it was an especially fun time 
     when she shared her stories at night on the porch at the 
     family cottage at Topsail Beach.
       After graduating from UNC, Mrs. Helms worked at The Raleigh 
     News and Observer as a city reporter and later as society 
     editor. It was while working at The News and Observer that 
     she met her future husband, a member of the sports 
     department. They were married on October 31, 1942, at the 
     First Baptist Church in Raleigh. One summer during the Second 
     World War, while her husband was on recruiting duty for the 
     Navy in the eastern part of North Carolina, she edited three 
     weekly newspapers which were published in Ahoskie, NC: The 
     Hertford County Herald, The Gates County Index, and The 
     Bertie-Ledger Advance. Mrs. Helms also worked part time at 
     The Star News when her husband was stationed in Wilmington, 
     NC.
       Back in Raleigh after her husband's discharge from the U.S. 
     Navy, Mrs. Helms was active in the Women's Missionary Union 
     of Hayes Barton Baptist Church. She was also active in the 
     Colonel Polk Chapter, DAR and served as regent for two years. 
     In the early 1960s, Mrs. Helms and Mrs. Armistead Maupin 
     (Diana) were instrumental in founding the Wake County SPCA.
       The Helms moved to Arlington, Virginia after Senator Helms 
     was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972. While living there, 
     Mrs. Helms was active in The Spouses of the Senate and in the 
     Senate Ladies Bible Study. She was a volunteer at Gallaudet 
     College for the Deaf and wrote a series of stories entitled 
     ``Interesting Deaf Americans''. Some of the stories were used 
     in English classes at Gallaudet and others were used in 
     publications of schools for the deaf The Helms shared a deep 
     interest in Camp Willow Run, a youth camp for Christ on the 
     shores of Lake Gaston in North Carolina, and Mrs. Helms later 
     wrote a history of the camp.
       Dot loved politics, and she backed many candidates through 
     the years. She always kept up with what was going on in the 
     world and was never without an opinion on an issue. She was 
     instrumental in the formation of The Jesse Helms Center 
     Foundation in Wingate, N.C. and served on the Board of 
     Directors for many years. She was also involved with The 
     Helms School of Government at Liberty University.
       Dorothy was the rock of her family. She will be missed so 
     much, but the family rejoices that they had her for so long. 
     She was predeceased by her husband, U.S. Senator Jesse Helms; 
     her parents; her brother, Jack Coble, and her nephew Jack 
     Coble, Jr. She is survived by her children, Jane Knox 
     (Charlie), Nancy Helms, and Charles Helms (Kathleen). She is 
     also survived by her seven grand-children, Rob Knox 
     (Krystin), Jennifer Knox (Shields Carstarphen), Mike Stuart 
     (Rachel Foster), Ellen Stuart Gaddy (Will), Katie Stuart 
     Power (Andy), Amelia Helms, and Julie Helms; and six great 
     grandchildren, Maggie McGuire, Ryan Knox, Cooper Knox-
     Carstarphen, Alex Knox-Carstarphen, Beatrix Gaddy, and Conrad 
     Power. Dot also leaves behind many other family members, 
     including the wonderful people who are forever members of the 
     Helms Senate family.

                          ____________________