John Richard Hellstern

ALEDO - Reverend John Richard Hellstern, 88, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday, February 13, 2024.
Known as "Chaplain John" while a pastor in the USAF, he retired as a Lieutenant Colonel after 20 years of service. He and his wife retuned to the Fort Worth area where most of their family now live. He had nine different assignments: Maxwell AFB, Montgomery, AL, Takhli Royal Thai AFB, Thailand (357th Tactical Fighter Squadron), Hamilton AFB, CA, Duluth AFB, MN, Woodbridge AFB, England, Carswell AFB, Fort Worth, TX, and Hill AFB, UT.
Two of his most memorable assignments were Thailand and England. In Thailand, he saw combat pilots off on mission with a prayer for their safe return and a "thumbs up." He visited with military personnel at remote radar sites, arranged for those serving in the combat zone to take temporary retreats to a mission up county, and helped a leprosy hospital raise funds by promoting their sale of woodcarvings. In England, he was the Senior Chaplain at Woodbridge AFB where he was in charge of the Protestant congregation, oversaw the youth program and coordinated special events, including a group trip to Israel. While in England, he began collecting antique Bibles, including hand-scribed manuscripts, 15th Century Bibles and early edition English Bibles.
After military retirement, he began displaying his Bibles in local churches. He later combined his Bibles with those of another Bible collector, Dr. Brake, and began displaying the over 3,000-piece collection in host venues in Branson, Tulsa and Dallas/Fort Worth. For the next 20 years, he continued to develop his vision for a permanent Bible museum where the public could experience the collection with multi- media presentations on Bible history and live demonstrations of a replica Gutenberg Press. He fulfilled his vision when the joint collection became a part of the Dunham Bible Museum at Houston Christian University. The Bible Museum is open to the public free of charge.
He is survived by his wife; their children; grandchildren and great grandchildren.
The family will hold a private gravesite memorial at DFW National Cemetery.
Please send any memorial donations to Houston Christian University designated for the Dunham Bible Museum.