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Hellmann Family Legacy
A LATIN SCHOOL LEGACY: THE HELLMAN FAMILY
ovington Latin School is family to so many of those who have attended. It is a home away from home for four, five, or six years that students can attend. Family is Mary Hellmann’s word to describe her time with Covington Latin. She was always familiar with CLS since her brother, Ralph Schuler, graduated in 1945. Mary met her husband, Richard, through mutual friends. Having been in pilot training in World War II, Richard worked at the airport, shuttling people to Lexington and Georgia. He would often give rides to Mary and her friends. With so many pilots returning from the War, Richard decided that he would train as an air traffic controller, where he spent the rest of his career. Richard and Mary had seven children, five boys, and two girls. The Hellmans placed a considerable emphasis on education, and through the influence of Uncles Ralph and Monsignor Donald Hellmann, the boys were destined to attend Covington Latin School. Mary shared how much of an impact she believed the Latin School had on her boys. To Mary, Covington Latin School was a family. She and her husband were very involved and attended all the basketball games. They became friends with CLS families and faculty members, especially Fr. Heile. Mary would recommend the school to anyone who would listen. She only wished that Covington Latin had been coed when her daughters went to high school. Covington Latin School impacted them so much
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Cthat the Hellmann family created the first scholarship to Covington Latin School in his honor when Richard passed away. His legacy lives on with our students each year when they are awarded the Richard Hellmann Memorial Scholarship. Mary has reason to brag about her children. They are all doing amazing things and are impacting their community. While many alumni stay in the area and become leaders in our community, brothers Rick, Don, Thomas, Nick, and Ken have all scattered throughout the world, making a tremendous impact in their fields of studies. RICHARD HELLMAN ‘69 After graduating from Covington Latin in 1969, Richard attended Parks College of Aeronautical Technology at St. Louis University. He served in the Aeronautical Administration for the Air Force during the Vietnam War as a Second Lieutenant. In 1974, Richard graduated from Air Traffic Controller School and served in Thailand, Dover Air Force Base, and Tampa, making him a Captain at 24. He then left the Air Force and worked for the FAA as an air traffic controller at Cincinnati and Paducah. In 1981, Richard left the FAA and taught college in Paducah, and began studying computer programming. After several more moves (51 in total), Richard became the Assistant Vice President of Computers at the insurance firm Chubb & Company.
DON HELLMAN
DON HELLMANN ‘70 began his career as a junior high history and English teacher at St. Thomas School in Ft. Thomas. While he loved teaching, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he wanted to study political science, and what better place to do that than in Washington, D.C.? He earned his Masters of Arts in Politics at Catholic University, where he received a much soughtafter internship with Kentucky U.S. Senator Walter D. Huddleston. This experience led to him serving on Huddleston’s staff for eight years. During his tenure with Senator Huddleston, Don earned his J.D. from the University of Baltimore. This was just the start of his 40year career in Congress. He went on to work on Capitol Hill as Legislative Counsel to House Majority Whip Tony Coelho from 1985 to 1988. Don went on to serve as Vice President for Conservation at The Wilderness Society, where he directed the conservation advocacy program before Congress and coordinated the litigation agenda of the organization. IIn 2009, Don joined the Obama Administration and was the Assistant Director of Legislative and Congressional Affairs for the National Park Service. Don retired in 2017 but continues to serve on the boards of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, the Vento Awards Committee for the National Park Trust, and the Manassas Battlefield Trust. n 2009,
Don joined the Obama Administration and
DR. NICHOLAS HELLMAN
DR. NICHOLAS HELLMANN ‘74 went to Xavier University for two years and then moved to the University of Kentucky to finish his undergraduate degree in Biology. He completed medical school at the University of Kentucky and earned a coveted spot in the University of California San very elite residency program. At that time, AIDS was becoming an epidemic and he began his fellowship on infectious diseases and AIDS, where he later served as faculty. He and his wife, Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann, secured funding through the Rockefeller Foundation and UCSF to study the heterosexual transmission of AIDS in Uganda for two and a half years. Still following his passion, Nick then worked in private practice, worked in the drug industry to develop treatments for AIDs, and served on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Global Health HIV Program. He is now serving as the Executive Vice President of Medical and Scientific Affairs at the Elizabeth Glaser Aids Foundation to end HIV in children in Africa.
THOMAS ‘73 earned his law degree from the University of Kentucky and clerked for a Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court and a Federal District Court Judge. He moved on to work for the Kentucky Revenue Cabinet, where he spent three years. He then served 18 years at the Attorney General’s Office in Frankfort. He is now retired from state government and is doing contract work with the state as an administrative law judge.
THE YOUNGEST SON, KENNETH ‘78 says that going to Covington Latin School was a foregone conclusion. Ken took a gap year after graduating from CLS and backpacked through Europe, where he had many adventures. He came back to Northern Kentucky and received his Bachelor of Science in Biology at Thomas More University. He went on to work on his Master’s Degree in Biology at the University of Kentucky. While working on his thesis data, Ken fell in love with computers. He began his career as a systems engineer in Hawaii, where he spent six years. Ken was then offered a position as a Department of Defense contractor in Korea, where he lived for 22 years. Don is married with two children and now works for Juniper Networks in Arizona as a Lead Major Account Manager for the US Army.
Covington Latin School is blessed to have the Hellmann’s as part of our family. They embody our motto and are indeed a testament to their parent’s desire for them to take advantage of their gift of education. We thank them for planting the seed that inspired many others to follow. “
ALUMNI/AE AWARD NOMINATIONS
Covington Latin School is seeking nominations for their annual Alumni/ae Awards to be held in October 2022. Please submit nominations by May 25, 2022.
