Russell (Rusty) Hellman (1917-2004) was a Democratic member of the

Michigan House of Representatives The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2010 ...

, representing the western end of the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan – also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. – is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula by t ...

for two decades. A lifelong resident of the Upper Peninsula, and of the same block in

Dollar Bay, Michigan Dollar Bay is a census-designated place (CDP) in Houghton County, Michigan, United States. The population was 1,082 at the 2010 census. Geography Dollar Bay is located in the southwest corner of Osceola Township. The CDP extends west into Fra ...

his entire life, Hellman bought a gas station when he was a senior in high school, and was elected township supervisor, for Osceola Township, at age 21. In 1960, he was elected to the Legislature where he served on the Appropriations Committee. Hellman was also instrumental in beginning the Great Lakes Coho Salmon program and a forestry program. "Hellman Avenue", a road in Dollar Bay (Houghton County) is named after him, after he got it paved. Rusty wanted funding to pave highway 95(?) from Iron Mountain and Highway 2 up to Highway 41. He couldn't get it. So he was able to get a bunch of other reps to meet him in Iron Mountain where he was going to take them on a tour of Rusty’s district, 110th. He loaded them on a school bus on the gravel highway, and told the driver to not hit the speed limit. After bouncing around inside that tin can on a crappy road, all the reps agreed that it should be paved. After he left office, Hellman started a consulting firm: the U.P. Lansing Associates about state and local issues.'Former state Rep. Russell Hellman dies,' Ironwood Daily Globe, June 11, 2004, pg. 8

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hellman, Russell 1917 births 2004 deaths People from Houghton County, Michigan Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives 20th-century American legislators