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Sad News For NJ Geocachers


Keystone

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I am very sorry to be writing with sad news. Groundspeak has been informed by the family of Helmut Mueller that he has passed away at the age of 43. Patriarch of the Skully & Mulder et al. team, Helmut was one of the early giants of New Jersey geocaching. His quality cache hides, his friendly presence at events and on the trail, and his enthusiastic forum posts will all be sorely missed.

 

Helmut is survived by his wife, Liz, and daughters Ashley, Nicole, and Taylor. On behalf of Groundspeak, I would like to express my deepest sympathies to them. I do not have any further details available regarding funeral arrangements, etc.

Edited by Keystone
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Groundspeak received this from his wife late last night.

 

My husband Helmut loved "most in life" geocaching with his girls and

autumn. He truly treasured all of his friends he's made thru hiking.

Helmut passed away from a massive heart attack yesterday, he was 43,

please let his friends know..................

 

Everyone at Groundspeak is sadden by the loss of a great husband and father.

Our condolences to the family.

Edited by CO Admin
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This is extremely sad news. The mann and I send our deepest condolences to Helmut's family. I'm stunned. I first met Skully in New Jersey while caching. I ran into him a few more times out there. He was with us on the Hudson Highlands jaunt. And he always had his girls with him. He was a wonderful father. This is so, so sad.

 

Rest in peace Helmut.

125ef1b6-e501-40a5-aeaf-b7a5be8a5b43.jpg

(Photo borrowed from Quoddy's log.)

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I'm stunned! As Skully & Mulder caches were the first for us to do, Helmut and his family can truly be credited with getting us hooked on the sport. His find logs always highlighted that he kept this a family affair as I rarely saw one without the girls and Autumn. I used Helmut's hides as a benchmark for quality in Morris/Sussex County. He will be greatly missed. :D

 

8567c46f-3dad-415e-8f11-1b5521f02f70.jpg

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Haven't done any "Joisey" caches yet (though intend to, don't live too far from the state), but this really saddened me to see. He sounded like a great guy who loved the outdoors and was unconditionally and wholeheartedly devoted to his family and I offer my condolences here. :_(

 

Was also a little scary to hear of someone who is only a few years old than I who (at least from the picture) looked in pretty good shape having a massive fatal heart attack. Glad I let my wife pester me into getting a physical next month.....

Edited by hairymon
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OMG, Suzanne and I are very sorry to hear this.

Our sympathy goes out to Helmut's family.

Not only is this a devastating loss to his family, but also to his family of geocachers.

Skully and Mulder, I will be thinking of you on my future cache hunts, farewell my friend.

Edited by ekitt10
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This is terribly sad. What a awful thing this is for such a wonderful family. My prayers are with Liz and the girls for this very difficult time. If anyone finds out when the funeral will be I hope they post it. I will if I find out so that those of us close by can attend and give Helmut's family support.

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I got the call late Friday night and I've felt sick ever since. I went out for a hike today in Harriman and it's all I could think about.

 

Helmut was a special person who married a terrific woman, was raising 3 tremendous young ladies and always brought along his faithful companion Autumn.

 

Our close knit community of local geocachers has lost a valued member and I've lost a friend. Helmut, you won't ever be forgotten.

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I have some information passed along about the wake and the funeral:

 

Wake will be from 2 - 4 pm and 7-9 pm on Monday at Megaro's

503 Union Ave, Belleville

 

The Funeral will be Tuesday morning (time to be confirmed)

at St Mary's Church in Nutley, 17 Monsignor Owens Place

 

:D

Edited by avroair
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I received a call this morning with this news and could not believe what I was hearing. I feel extremely fortunate to have met, hiked and cached with Helmut on a few occasions. I am truly and deeply saddened. My sincere condolences to Helmut's wonderful family. He will be forever missed.

 

:D

 

-Joe

 

From the Hudson Highlands Jaunt a couple of years ago.

019557a4-80c3-4ed9-bb3b-989d9ce99b39.jpg

 

956885da-f18f-433a-bd67-32be4094c368.jpg

Edited by JMBella
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I went for a long hike today and thought about this all day. I am glad he had geocaching to share with his daughters and spend so much quality time with them. I was already an adult when I lost my dad, and it still hurts many years later. I hope that his daughters will still be able to continue enjoying the hobby that he loved so much. You just never know what cards life will deal you. Knowing that he lived life to its fullest has to be some comfort to the family. I wish there were some magic words that could help, but there just aren't any. :D

 

1207246_200.JPG

 

I met Skully for the first time back in April of 2003.

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I have some information passed along about the wake and the funeral:

 

Wake will be from 2 - 4 pm and 7-9 pm on Monday at Megaro's

503 Union Ave, Belleville

 

The Funeral will be Tuesday morning (time to be confirmed)

at St Mary's Church in Nutley, 17 Monsignor Owens Place

 

:D

Megaro's N40 48.044 W74 09.272

 

St. Mary's N40 48.675 W74 08.865

 

They are about a mile apart, according to mapsource.

 

B)

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I went for a long hike today and thought about this all day.  I am glad he had geocaching to share with his daughters and spend so much quality time with them.  I was already an adult when I lost my dad, and it still hurts many years later.  I hope that his daughters will still be able to continue enjoying the hobby that he loved so much.  You just never know what cards life will deal you.  Knowing that he lived life to its fullest has to be some comfort to the family.  I wish there were some magic words that could help, but there just aren't any.  B)

 

1207246_200.JPG

 

I met Skully for the first time back in April of 2003.

:D

 

Thanks for posting that picture Planet.

 

That day was the very first time I ever met geocachers while traveling. I still remember hiking to the cache and coming back to the cars and other cachers coming up. It was such a treat to meet dboggny, Mopar and Planet that day, but to have Stayfloopy pass us on the trail on the way back to the car and then Skully drive up as we were chatting after finding the cache was great.

 

Sad... stunned.

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I just heard this terrible news and I am shocked and saddened. I had the pleasure of hiking with Helmut and his wonderful family a few times and I always knew him to be a thoughtful and considerate man. I was especially fond of his ability and willingness to pick up snakes on the trail (so I wouldn't have to get near them).

 

Rest in peace Helmut. I hope to see you again on the great trail in the sky.

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I took up geocaching to "stay healthy"... the doctor always says to get exercise... I am so shocked, and hope there is something that we as a community can do for the Mueller family.

I'll always treasure the "Skully & Mulder" chip I scored early on in my caching career. I hope that knowing that Helmut was so important to our community gives the family some comfort.

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