Husband, Father, and Scientist
Robert Helliwell ’58
August 7, 2016, in Morgan Hill, California.
Robert Wesley Helliwell was born in 1930 in Minot, North Dakota. He wrote his Reed thesis, “A Photographic Method for Determining Shock Wave Variables,” under Professor William Parker [physics 1948–79], and paid his tuition by working in the summers as a surveyor.
Prior to attending Reed, Robert served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Hawaii. He later told Peter Renz ’59 a harrowing story about confronting and disarming a soldier who went rogue in the middle of the night. “He led his life with great courage and absolute integrity,” Peter says.
After leaving Reed, Robert graduated with a degree in materials science and engineering from Stanford and worked at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii for 25 years before moving to Thailand in 1992. He is survived by his wife, Somjit, and his sons, Martin and Brian.
Appeared in Reed magazine: Fall 2025
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