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People > Notable Norkans > Roy Helser

Roy Helser

Roy Helser, a man who pitched with distinction for the Portland Beavers for more than a decade half a century ago, then later made a name for himself as a coach at his alma mater, Lin­field College in McMinnville, Oregon.
Picture
The Helser family emigrated to the United States from Norka, Russia, and settled in Portland, where Roy was born. Helser graduated from Benson High School. Ironically, he did not play high school sports but found his niche in baseball under Coach Henry Lever. 

Helser's pro baseball career started in Waterloo, Iowa, in 1937.  Later, he pitched for the Salem Senators of the Northwest League in 1940 and 1941, then signed with the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League in 1942. Late that season, he was acquired by the Portland Beavers.  

At first, it was part-time.  Helser also pitched for a team in the Albina Shipyards League in 1943 before settling in as one of the Beavers’ top pitchers for the next several years. He had three consecutive 20-win seasons, going 20-16, 20-14 and 20-16 from 1944 to 1946.  

Helser played on the 1945 Pacific Coast League pennant-winning team. It was an era when the Beavers played in the old Vaughn Street ballpark and rode a wave of popularity that drew nearly half a million fans in 1947.

A staple of the time among fans was Rollie Truitt's Beaver Scrapbook, and in that 1956 edition, there still was a picture of No. 25, Roy Helser, beneath which was written, “One of the fiercest competitors ever to wear ' a Beaver uniform.”

Helser also made a mark as a semi-pro player and manager in a time when that carried considerable weight, first with the Silverton Red Sox, then with the Drain Black Sox, where he won three consecutive Southwestern Oregon League baseball championships in 1952, 1953, and 1954.  

Later, Helser coached at Linfield College for 21 years, winning over 60 percent of his games (wins 322, losses 195, Ties 6). Helser's teams won 14 Northwest Conference championships and a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) championship in 1966.

After coaching, Helser served as Athletic Director at the school for four years before retiring in 1972. The baseball field at Linfield was dedicated to Helser in 1973, and later, a new stadium was named in his honor.

“He was one of the greatest competitors that I have ever known,” said Ad Rutschman, former football coach and athletic director at Linfield who played both baseball and basketball for Helser at the school.

Roy Helser was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1981 and the Linfield College Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.

Classmate, coaching colleague, and friend, Paul Durham said of Helser:
“He was one of God's gifted people, I can't say enough wonderful things about him. I'm limited.”
Helser died in McMinnville, Oregon, on October 25, 1994.

Sources

"Helser, Beaver pitcher and Linfield coach, dies at 83" The Oregonian, Wednesday, October 26, 1994

Linfield Sports Hall of Fame website (November 2019)
Last updated December 9, 2023
Copyright © 2002-2025 Steven H. Schreiber
  • Home
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  • People
    • Founders
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    • Notable Norkans
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    • Photo Gallery
  • Community
    • Village Life
    • Entertainment
    • Agriculture
    • Climate
    • Homesites
    • Geographical Description
    • Government
    • Social Structure
    • Health
    • Education
    • A Land of Ethnic Diversity
    • Cottage Industries >
      • Sarpinka
      • Mills
    • Language
    • Population
    • Military Service
    • Crime and Punishment
  • History
    • Timeline
    • Origins of the Colonists
    • Catherine's Manifesto 1763
    • Why go to Russia?
    • Recruitment 1766
    • Planning 1764-1766
    • Marriages Prior To Emigration 1766
    • Voyage to Russia 1766 >
      • Ship Transport 1766
    • Journey 1766-1767
    • Founding of Norka 1767
    • Early Years 1767-1769
    • Norka 1769
    • Pallas Report 1773
    • Pugachev Raid 1774
    • Norka 1775
    • Norka 1798
    • Norka 1811
    • Napoleons Soldiers
    • Norka 1834
    • Daughter Colonies 1850s >
      • Neu-Norka
      • Oberdorf
      • Brunnental
      • Rosenfeld (am Jeruslan)
      • Neu Hussenbach (Gaschon)
    • Privileges Lost 1871-1874
    • Immigration 1875-1924 >
      • To the United States >
        • Colorado
        • Ft Collins Colorado
        • Globeville Colorado
        • Mason City, Iowa
        • Culbertson, Nebraska
        • Lincoln, Nebraska
        • Sutton, Nebraska
        • Burlington, Oklahoma
        • Weatherford, Oklahoma
        • Canby, Oregon
        • Portland, Oregon
      • To Canada >
        • Duffield, Alberta
        • Ponoka, Alberta
        • Spruce Grove, Alberta
        • Stony Plain, Alberta
        • Vegreville, Alberta
        • Arcola, Saskatchewan
      • To Germany
      • To South America
    • Famine 1891-1892
    • Norka 1898
    • War & Turnoil 1904-1906
    • World War 1914-1918
    • Revolution & War 1917-1922
    • Soviet Rule 1918-1941
    • Famine 1921-1924
    • Famine 1932-1933
    • The Great Terror 1936-1938
    • Deportation 1941
    • Repression 1941-1956
    • Cultural Loss 1957-2006
    • A Culture in Peril
    • Recent Times
  • Traditions
    • Food and Drink
    • Clothing
    • Holidays >
      • New Year
      • Fastnacht
      • Lent
      • Easter
      • Ascension Day
      • Pentecost
      • Founder's Day
      • Harvest Festival
      • Jahrmarkt
      • Christmas
      • Anniversaries & Birthdays
    • Crafts
    • Games
    • Folk Medicine
    • Superstitions
    • Nicknames
    • Folk Music
    • Church Music
    • Funerals and Burials
  • Religion
    • Planning and History >
      • Norka Reformed Church 1767-1864
      • 1909 Norka Parish Report
    • Pastors >
      • Johann Heinrich Fuchs
      • Johann Georg Herwig
      • Johann Baptist Cattaneo
      • Lukas Cattaneo
      • Emanuel Grunauer
      • Friedrich Börner
      • Christian Gottlieb Hegele
      • Christoph H Bonwetsch
      • Gottlieb N Bonwetsch
      • Wilhelm Staerkel
      • Woldemar Sibbul
      • David Weigum
      • Friedrich Alexander Wacker
      • Emil Pfeiffer
    • Church Practices >
      • Baptism
      • Confirmation
      • Weddings
      • Communion
      • Prayers
      • Parochial Certificates
    • Church Buildings
    • Church Organs
    • Bell Tower
    • Brethren Movement
  • Resources
    • Family Research
    • Research Resources >
      • Arrival Records 1766
      • Descendant Charts
      • German EWZ Records
      • Soviet Gulag Records
    • Maps
    • Glossary
    • Bibliography
    • Periodicals >
      • Die Welt-Post Letters
      • Sonntagsblatt der Omaha Tribune
    • Related Links