Dorothy J. Helmes

Dorothy Joan (nee Kleiman) Helmes passed away peacefully on Thursday, April 2, 2026, just one month shy of her 101st birthday.

Born in Cincinnati to Mary (nee Rigney) and William Kleiman in 1925, Dorothy was the fourth of six children who were raised in East Walnut Hills. Dorothy was a devout Catholic who grew up in the St. Francis de Sales parish, attended high school at St. Mary in Hyde Park, and later was a devoted parishioner of St. Margaret of Cortona in Madisonville until the parish closed in 2023. She continued to attend Mass and receive communion as often as she was able in the last few years of her life and prayed every day. Her favorite saint was Thérèse of Lisieux, whom she admired for her simple devotion to Jesus despite her many hardships in life. Dorothy often found comfort in roses, which are a symbol of St. Thérèse.

At just 5’2” and known as “Dot” to family and friends, Dorothy raised nine children, volunteered at St. Margaret, supported her kids and grandkids at countless plays, concerts, art exhibitions, and sporting events, cross stitched dozens of intricate wall hangings, Christmas stockings, and linens for her family, and was a voracious reader who loved the library and local bookstores. When her health declined with age, Dorothy was a favorite of nurses and aides for her friendly and caring nature.

Dorothy worked as a teller at the old Central Trust Bank in Walnut Hills in the early 1940s, where she stayed until she married Robert Helmes in 1948. She and Bob raised John (Maureen) Helmes of Hilton Head, SC; Joseph (Kathy) Helmes, Richard (Paula) Helmes, and Elizabeth Kelley of Cincinnati; Joan (Priscilla Johnstone) Helmes of Sebastopol, CA; Julie Jordan, Janet Lee, and Annette Schultz of Cincinnati; and Mary (Dave) Sheely of Seattle, WA.

Dorothy often shared stories of her childhood during the Great Depression, when her father struggled to find work and her family sometimes made a meal out of a box of crackers. She learned to never waste food, feeding her own large family on an often-limited budget and known throughout her life for saving every possible leftover.

Dorothy enjoyed traveling; epic road trips in the 1970s, visiting grown children and grandchildren in Chicago and San Francisco, watching Reds spring training in Florida, and going overseas to Austria and Ireland. The Ireland trip was special to her as the granddaughter of Irish immigrants (she baked Irish soda bread every year for St. Patrick’s Day). She continued traveling well into her 80s to destinations including Michigan, Seattle, and Savannah, GA.

Dorothy delighted in her 14 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren and was always thrilled to hold a little one. She loved nothing more than visits from her family and was grateful for the care they gave her. She was preceded in death by Bob in 2001 following 52 years of marriage, and in 2025 by her beloved daughter Julie Jordan. She is survived by eight children and their families, her dear sister Jane Wegman, and many cherished nieces, nephews, and their families across Cincinnati and beyond.

Visitation will be held on Friday, April 10th from 9:30AM until the time of Mass of Christian Burial 10:30AM at St. Vincent Ferrer Parish, 7754 Montgomery Rd. (45236) Kenwood.  Interment will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery. 

The family would welcome memorial donations to St. Vincent de Paul–Cincinnati, an organization that Dorothy credited for supporting her family during some of their hardest times in the Depression.