Otto Jennings Helweg, of Maumelle, Arkansas, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, November 2nd, 2008, while performing volunteer work in Denver, Colorado. He was blessed with a quick passage to his ultimate goal, to be with the Lord. Otto is survived by his wife, Virginia Helweg, as well as his 3 sons, Otto, Mark, and Steve.
Otto and Virginia recently spent a successful year in Rwanda where Otto was a special consultant to the Government of Rwanda, leading an effort to install 40 water wells for the citizens of that country. Otto recently retired in Little Rock from the position of Dean of the Architectural and Engineering department at North Dakota State University in Fargo.
Otto’s education and humanitarian impact are numerous and include having a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D., in civil engineering; he has a Masters of Divinity with majors in theology, psychology, and philosophy, a M.B.A. with majors in marketing and finance, and a M.S. with a major in administration of higher education. While at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he earned his first engineering degree, he was undefeated heavyweight boxing champion, played on Navy's Cotton Bowl football team, and was honorable All-American in lacrosse.
While on active duty in the Navy, Otto devoted considerable time counseling young recruits. After completing four years in the Navy, he and his new bride spent a year as volunteers teaching in a mission high school in Tehran, Iran. After completing his masters degree at U.C.L.A., Otto eschewed a Sackett Fellowship for Ph.D. Study and, instead, returned to Iran in order to help the poor of this country. He, his wife, and new son returned as fraternal workers where he devoted five and one-half years working among the Kurds in Western Iran and took part in small and large scale village water projects. In addition, he completed a number of other volunteer projects, involving structural design and irrigation improvement, that aided the poor villagers. One project was featured by the National Plan Organization as the outstanding project of the year.
Otto assisted the Saudi government in developing a water studies center and directed their agricultural experiment station. In addition, he has assisted South American countries and Russia. On a local level, Otto is active in his church, serving in leadership positions and teaching Sunday School, has been advisor and founder for a number of student and faculty organizations, and took part in many activities to promote engineering, especially among the poor inner city African Americans in the Memphis area.
Otto is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and is a member of sixteen other professional organizations. He has received a number of honors, including the Ground Water Scientists of the Year, the outstanding Civil Engineer in the State of Tennessee and the most outstanding engineer in the Mid South as well as the most prestigious Hoover Medal. Otto has written over 100 refereed papers and three books.
A memorial service will be held this Friday, November 7th, 10:45am, at the Mosaic Church, 6420 Colonel Glenn Dr. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorials be made to: Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas, 6420 Colonel Glenn Dr. Ste #1, Little Rock, AR 72204 or to a favorite charity. Services are provided by Griffin Leggett Healey & Roth Funeral Home, 5800 W. 12th St., L.R. AR 72204 ph #: 501.661.0065. On line guest register: www.griffinleggett.com