This obituary is part of “We Will Remember,” a series about those we’ve lost to the coronavirus.
He was the famous rib cooker in the family and had a passion for riding his red trike.
Detroiter Leslie Helms, who managed to bounce back from multiple surgeries over the years, lost his life to what his wife of 45 years, Kathie Helms, called “something invisible.”
Helms lost his battle at the age of 72, six hours after Cliff Taylor, one of his best friends, died of COVID-19. He died April 18 at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak.
Known to many as Les, Helms graduated from Mumford High School in 1967, and was one of the starters of the basketball team that won championships for the 1965-66 season. He later attended Flint Junior College, where he played basketball, and then received a basketball scholarship to play for Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina.