Howard A. Hellekson, age 70, of rural Volga, died at home on Monday, November 8, 2010. Memorial services will be 2:00 P.M. Saturday, November 13, 2010, at First Lutheran Church in Volga, with interment of cremated remains and military rites at Oslo Lutheran Cemetery near Volga. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Avera-McKennan Foundation/Cancer Institute.

Howard Albert Hellekson was born to Albert and Leona (Hoff) Hellekson in Oslo Township on February 10, 1940. He was baptized and confirmed at Oslo Lutheran Church and graduated from Volga High School. He attended Huron College for two years and then graduated from Augustana College in Sioux Falls with a degree in art. After college he enlisted in the Navy and served as a procurement and recruiting officer in Minneapolis. After completing his active duty he joined the Naval Air Reserves as a navigator, flying out of Glenview Naval Air Station, Illinois, until 1980. During this time he attended Mankato State College and received his MBA in Business Administration, and then taught marketing, management, and salesmanship at Mankato State for two years.

After his marriage to Christine Lederer on October 28, 1972, in Mankato, they moved to Minneapolis where he worked in marketing research and insurance sales. Following their retirement they moved to Lake Thompson in South Dakota, and then settled in Oslo Township, south of Volga. Howard loved to hunt, especially hunting upland game where he enjoyed watching his Springer spaniels work the field.

Survivors include his wife, Christine Hellekson, of Volga; and three sisters: Marvel Oines of Surprise, Arizona, Ruth Shefcyk of Lake Orion, Michigan, and Ardys (Lloyd) Smith of Springfield, Missouri; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Helen Arlene.