Timothy John Hellstrom

My heart goes out to your family I worked with Timmy and Buddy a while on the railroad. We had many good times together He was trully one of the best rails I ever had the pleasure of working with Nothing like seeing him smile and hear his laugh. Loved you dearly Timmy I know god has a special place in his caboose for you .God bless you and your family

Tim & Mom - Rest In Peace
@ Heather & Matt Merolla´s Wedding
May 14, 2011

Condolences from the Richmond branch of the Merolla family including my mom (Tim´s sister Carol) and dad (Al). I also send my own sympathy and for my wife (Heather) and daughter (Olivia), who is just beginning to learn about life and death. We have many fond memories of trips to visit the Chicago extended family - trips that included great food like hot dogs and deep dish pizza and not so great food like pickled herring. We also had fun experiences like Chicago Cubs baseball and Phantom of the Opera. As children, my brothers and I would hold our fingers out the car window during the freezing Chicago winter and see who could handle the frostbite! Uncle Tim was a fixture in those memories, always joking and laughing. On multiple occasions since those days many years ago, he also came to visit including my wedding which will be 15 years in May. He will be dearly missed and fondly remembered.

Mr Tim as we called him was not only our neighbor but also a good friend, he was always there when we needed something, he was a grandfather figure to my boys and father figure to me, always kind and welcoming, when Tristan was in preschool he used to tell me "I wish Mr Tim was my grandpa" and Liam loved his "secret" lemonade recipe, for Halloween, Gabriel always said "let´s go to Mr Tim´s first, he has full size candy bars and he lets us have more than one" he was so generous! His jokes never disappointed, he had a great sense of humor, always made me laugh, I will miss that so much, our long talks about life and about things we both disliked, I will cherish those for the rest of my life. Our dog Daisy oh my gosh did she love him! He was her favorite person, during the summer when she was outside with me gardening, she will disappear, and I knew where she was, at Mr Tim´s why? because he had treats for her, he carried them in his pockets 24/7, he was so sweet, my heart aches for her because I know she will deeply miss him, they were best friends. Loretta, Emma and Sarah, you are in our thoughts and prayers, we are so very sorry for your loss, Mr Tim was so, so loved by our family, our block will never be the same without him, his memory will live in our hearts forever, it was truly an honor to have had him in our lives. May he rest in eternal peace.