Emil Ray Helfer

My father went by E. Ray Helfer. He always was called by his middle name. His parents were divorced when he was young and his stepfather became his father. His birth father was an alcoholic and tried to kill my father by pushing him from a moving vehicle when he was about twelve years of age. My father never had any contact with him after this point in time.My father was a very talented person. He quit high school at sixteen years of age to attend acting school. He attended the Alvini Acting School in Brooklyn, New York. The actor Brian Keith was in his class.At twenty years of age, he joined the Navy. He was a signalman on the USS Tolland AKA64. He met my mother in Indianapolis, Indiana while attending school as part of his Naval training at Butler University. They were only together for a month before he had to leave but became engaged before he departed. They married three years later and remained in New York where my father was from, for six years. During this time, my father performed in shows. He sang and danced on The Paul Whiteman Goodyear Review Show.When my parents got serious about starting a family, they decided to relocate to Indianapolis. My father spent most of his working years with Sun Life Insurance Company and Singer Sewing Machine Company. He still enjoyed acting and was involved with local theater groups that performed various places in Indianapolis.My father died at forty-five years of age of a heart attack. My mother always said that it would have 'killed him' to have survived because he could not have lived with restrictions that would have changed life for him as he loved it.

Family Tree:
Spouse:	Freda Jean Bowman Helfer
Children:	Alicia Rae Helfer Sullivan Lesko Robert Ray Helfer Frank Ray Helfer
Grandchildren:	Jason Alan Sullivan
Parents:	Margaret MacRae Helfer Stevenson and Alexander Helfer Step-parent: Albert Stevenson
Siblings:	Helen Helfer Miller
Grandparents:	None listed