Richard T. Wilhelm

1952 - 2022

News story
By Mark Zaborney
Blade Staff Writer

Richard T. Wilhelm, whose public speaking ability contributed to the growth of the process control systems firm his father founded in the family basement, died Monday in his Springfield Township home. He was 70.

Mr. Wilhelm, who was best known as Rick, had cancer of the larynx for more than a year, but continued to stop by the Maumee offices of Helm Instrument Co. until several months ago, his family said. He was chief executive officer.

The firm designs and makes process control systems and instrumentation for metal forming and other industries.

"He was so passionate about the business. It was his life," his wife, Mary Alice Wilhelm, said.

His late father, Donald Wilhelm, was an Owens-Illinois engineer in 1962 when he developed a solid-state temperature controller in the basement of the family home. The elder Mr. Wilhelm couldn't persuade O-I to develop the device, according to a 2009 Blade article about Helm Instrument's success. But O-I became his first customer.

The elder Mr. Wilhelm left O-I by the late 1960s to lead Helm Instrument.

When the firm opened a facility on Alexis Road, the younger Mr. Wilhelm's first job as a high student was building maintenance inside and out.

"He started out planting flowers," Mrs. Wilhelm said. The company later moved to Maumee's Arrowhead Park.

Mr. Wilhelm became a purchasing agent, worked in accounting, and in time was promoted to president and then CEO. In the process, he helped the company expand internationally through extensive travels in Europe and Asia.

"He'd make close friends with people he set up agencies with," Mrs. Wilhelm said. "He sold the company wherever he went. He'd wear it on his sleeve."

He didn't have the engineering background of his father, but instead learned as he went along – and explained terminology and processes in his own words as he spoke to others.

"He was a fantastic speaker," his son Mark Wilhelm said. "He could tell you about something in an understandable way. The more people he had in a room, the better he got."

His sons work at Helm Instrument and his siblings at the company include brother, Mike, who is president.

His advice to his sons was to set a goal and work hard to achieve it.

"He gave us a lot of encouragement and a lot of courage and confidence to do what we want to do," son Rick, Jr., said.

He was born Feb. 14, 1952, to Nancy and Donald Wilhelm. He was a 1970 graduate of Central Catholic High School, where he was a drummer in the marching band and then kicker on the football team.

He attended the University of Toledo before joining the company full time.

He played for years on a golf league for O-I alumni, and his sons now golf with that league.

Surviving are his wife, the former Mary Alice Hanthorn, whom he married Aug. 27, 1971; sons Richard Wilhelm, Joseph Wilhelm, Mark Wilhelm, and Matthew Wilhelm; daughter, Lisa Anderson; brothers Donald Wilhelm, Jr., Michael Wilhelm, and Thomas Wilhelm; sisters Mary Tice, Elizabeth Tracy, Joyce Phillips, and Teresa Young, and five grandchildren.

Services will begin at 10 a.m. Friday at Coyle Funeral Home. A funeral Mass will begin at 10:30 a.m. Friday at St. Joan of Arc Church.

The family suggests tributes to the American Cancer Society or St. Joan of Arc Church.