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Thomas Flournoy Helms
October 23, 2025
Thomas Flournoy Helms, 96, of Molino, passed peacefully into the nearer presence of God on Friday evening, October 17th.
Born November 7th, 1928 to William and Myrtya Helms, Tom grew up surrounded by family and friends in Molino. Despite the struggles of the Great Depression and subsequent war years, his childhood and youth were blessed by many happy seasons exploring the Escambia River—swimming, camping, hunting, and most especially, fishing with his grandfather. While still a small boy, thrilled by the sight of Navy trainers overhead, Tom fell in love with the very idea of flying. He built countless planes—from balsa wood gliders to scale models to remote control planes of his own design.
This boyhood enthusiasm for aviation continued throughout his years at Pensacola High School and was eclipsed only when he fell in love more deeply with beautiful Margaret Presley whom he married in 1949. Together, they raised a family of three children and created a welcoming country home that has been a place of joy and delight for many. The couple shared their devotion to each other and their family for seventy-two years until Margaret’s passing in 2021.
Throughout his life, Tom was an active member of the Methodist Church, beginning at Molino Methodist, then Aldersgate United Methodist, and finally for over fifty years in First United Methodist Church of Pensacola. He was a member of the Cantonment Rotary Club, a founding member of the Molino Mid-County Historical Society, and for over seventy-five years a member of the Masonic order.
As an administrator in the paper manufacturing firms of St. Regis and Champion, Tom was respected for his principled commitment to honesty, fairness, and hard work. His keen and inquisitive mind, his willingness to learn and adapt, and his loyalty to his own deepest ideals grew only stronger as he aged. At fifty, he finally realized his boyhood dream and became a pilot. Some of his happiest days were spent flying with Margaret to visit family and friends across the country. Although a heart attack at age seventy ended his flying, he once again piloted a plane on his ninetieth birthday, doing three take-offs and landings and soaring over the bays and beaches of Pensacola.
Tom loved people and enjoyed sharing his interests with others—travel, good food, golf, music-making, carpentry, boating, and perhaps most of all, the simple pleasure of sitting on a patio, breathing the sweet air, and visiting with friends and family.
A strong and courageous man, a loving husband, father, grandfather, uncle, mentor and friend, Tom’s life and the blessings he has brought to so many will be celebrated for years to come, most gratefully by his family: Marjan Helms, Thomas Helms, Jr., Kathy Helms Starkey, Ron Starkey, and Brian and Trish Starkey.
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