Amy Helck died on Saturday. She had been in declining health for several years, and she died peacefully. Amy was one of the founders of Preserve Ramapo, and she served as its first chairperson. At the time that Amy chaired Preserve Ramapo, she was a high-level advertising account executive in Manhattan, and Andy, her husband, did computer and mechanical design for leading shows on Broadway.
When they gave up the rat race in Manhattan, they moved first to Telluride, Colorado and then about an hour away to Ridgway. Amy had decided that cooking was her thing, and she trained in Europe for a career as a chef. While in Telluride, she baked for one of the town’s two leading restaurants, and she worked as an accountant. After they moved out of town, she did catering for folks in the Telluride area. Andy found employment in Telluride’s wonderful library. He worked at the help desk and did computer programming. He now maintains and is expanding the library’s computer system.
Amy and Andy kept up with events in Ramapo after they left the area about fourteen years ago. They loved Ramapo, but obviously not its politics.
Amy had a wry sense of humor and enjoyed life. She was a real friend of ours and her death was a terrible shock. She will be missed.
Memorial services are being planned for Telluride, her hometown, and later in this area.
Robert Rhodes
Chairman Preserve Ramapo
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Note:
One part of the lasting debt that Preserve Ramapo owe’s Amy is the Preserve Ramapo website. Amy created and launched the website as part of the political campaign for Kathy Ellsworth, when she ran against Supervisor St. Lawrence. And like anything that she worked on, Amy applied an attention to detail and thoroughness, from the software to the typeface, that made my life much easier when I came on later as an editor.
Michael Castelluccio
Editor/www.Preserve-Ramapo.com