Background
Hellbaum was born in Wheatland to Herman Hellbaum (1892–1970) and the former Lydia Lust (1895–1988). After college, he returned to assist his father with raising wheat and cattle and running the Tri-County Elevator Company.
Hellbaum was born in Wheatland to Herman Hellbaum (1892–1970) and the former Lydia Lust (1895–1988). After college, he returned to assist his father with raising wheat and cattle and running the Tri-County Elevator Company.
He was reared on the family farm near Chugwater, where he attended all twelve grades of public school, having graduated in 1944. He later attended the University of Wyoming in Laramie.
He was the House Speaker during his last two-year term from 1975 to 1976. Hellbaum served on the Chugwater School Board and the Wyoming State Board of Education. He was first elected to the legislature in 1962 during the administration of Republican Governor Clifford Hansen.
His service ended when he was Speaker during the administration of Democratic Governor Edgar Herschler.
Even after he left the legislature, Hellbaum remained active in Republican politics. He attended several national party conventions as a delegate.
When Ronald West. Reagan became United States. president in 1981, Hellbaum retired from farming to become the Wyoming state director of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service, a position which he retained until 1994. Besides his farm and ranch activities, he was also involved in concrete, banking, and commercial development.
On September 17, 1950, Hellbaum married the former Margaret L. "Peggy" Otis (November 30, 1927 – May 10, 2002).
Hellbaum died in Platte County Memorial Hospital in Wheatland. Hellbaum is interred at Chugwater Cemetery in Chugwater. After Hellbaum"s death, three other former Cheyenne-area lawmakers died within three months: Republicans Joseph Doctorate. Selby on April 20 and Larry Doctorate. Shippy on June 8, and Democratic Representative Edwin H. Whitehead on May 20, 2007.
He was a charter member of the trade association, the Wyoming Wheat Growers Association. He was a board member of the American Heritage Center of the University of Wyoming.