Robert Bruce Helms Jr., 86, Bella Vista, Ark., a native of Osawatomie, died Monday, Aug. 7, 2006, in St. Mary's Hospital in Rogers, Ark.

He was born Jan. 7, 1920, in Osawatomie, the son of Robert Bruce Helms Sr. and Frances Casto Helms. He graduated in 1937 from Osawatomie High School and was a graduate of Ottawa University and White Institute of Automotive Engineering and Design in Cleveland, Ohio.

During the first half of World War II, he was a general foreman of production control for the North American B-25 Bomber Plant in Kansas City, Mo. During the last half of the war, he was a group leader in Petal Lot Engineering for Pratt and Whitney Engine Plant in production of the 1800 HP Corsair Navy Fighter Plane Power Plant.

Most of his working years were spent in management positions with various truck manufacturers and he retired in 1985 from Freightliner Corp. At that time he moved to Bella Vista.

He married Carmelita M. Bailleres in 1948 in Bentonville, Ark. She died in 1985.

He and Bertha M. Aroy were married in 1991 and she died in 2001.

Mr. Helms was a member and deacon of the Bella Vista Community Church. He was a member of the Order of De Molay and reached his 50 years of membership in 1995 in Osage Valley Lodge No. 24, A.F.&A.M., where he was the third generation in his family to be a member. He was also a member of the Scottish Rite in St. Joseph, Mo.

He enjoyed traveling, sailing and anthropology, in which he had taken four courses at the University of Arkansas since retiring.

Survivors include his son, Robert Bruce Helms III of Tampa, Fla.; one granddaughter; and two great-grandsons.

Burial will be in the Osawatomie Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of Bella Vista Funeral Home and Crematory, 2258 Forest Hills Blvd.