Sad News For NJ Geocachers

22.3k · January 28, 2006

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 January 28, 2006 by Keystone

8.1k · January 28, 2006

Rose and I would like to express our deepest condolences to Liz and the girls. Helmet was a fantastic man, a great friend and we both miss him already.

Mark and Rose

Avroair and Mrs Avroair

6.4k · January 28, 2006

Edited January 28, 2006 by Mopar

1.1k · January 28, 2006

My deepest condolences to Helmut's family. He was one of the first geocachers that I became acquainted with; and was always a pleasure to be with, whether on the trail or at an event.

2.3k · January 28, 2006

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 January 28, 2006 by CO Admin

1.7k · January 28, 2006

Please let us know if we can send donations in his name to a favorite charity or if a trust fund is being set up for his children.

January 28, 2006

Skully was a favorite among NJ geocachers, a truly nice guy. Always happy to meet up with him on the trails or group hike, very sad.

http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=ce...11-35eaee712fa8

January 28, 2006

We only met Helmut a handful of times, but he was always a pleasure to talk to. We have fond memories of him, with Autum in tow, chasing down snakes and the like. We send our sympathies, he will be missed.

3k · January 28, 2006

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.

(Photo borrowed from Quoddy's log.)

January 28, 2006

My deepest condolences to the family

January 28, 2006

I can not believe what I'm reading!!!!

~Rest in Peace my friend.~

January 28, 2006

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.

4.5k · January 28, 2006

Truly sad. Our deepest condolences to the whole family.

Alan and Janet

1.4k · January 28, 2006

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 January 28, 2006 by hairymon

January 28, 2006

my deepest condolences to the family. this is sad news, indeed.

1.2k · January 28, 2006

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 January 28, 2006 by ekitt10

January 28, 2006

So sorry to for you're lost. My prayers go out to the family.

January 28, 2006

Sadly we never had the opportunity to meet him. (We need to get up north a bit more!) Our deepest condolences to the family.

Cache On Helmut!

January 28, 2006

Such sad news...

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the Muellers...

Always a smile on his face, a good caching story or an attentive listener...

And so proud of his family...

Helmut will be missed by all who knew him...

He was a true gentileman in every sense of the word...

Rest in Peace, our friend...

January 28, 2006

My prayers, thoughts, and deepest condolences go out to Helmut's family and friends.

January 28, 2006

January 28, 2006

We are very saddend to hear the news, he always inspired us and was a great pleasure to see on the trails. Our condolences to the family.

Edited January 28, 2006 by Straatmaker 5

January 28, 2006

My Condolences.

January 28, 2006

I am shocked and saddened by this news, my deepest sympathies to his family. We will all miss him.

10.2k · January 28, 2006

That is terrible news to hear. My sincere condolences to the family, and to the entire New Jersey caching community.

January 28, 2006

There are no words... Please let us know what we can do to help, or where we might send a donation.

38.2k · January 28, 2006

I'm shocked. A great father and good man. I considered him a friend. At a loss for words now.

January 28, 2006

I was at a cache when Avro called me this morning. I want to send our deepest sympath from all LIGO members who knew him and enjoyed hiking and caching with him.

From legendary snake grabs to just an all around great guy. You will be missed my friend.

-Neil

January 28, 2006

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.

January 28, 2006

We are absolutely STUNNED. Living the in the same town, we ran into Helmut on many occasions in addition to encountering him on the trails.

A good man who will be missed by all of us.

January 28, 2006

A couple of pictures from my hard drive.

Skully, Avroair and TeamDemp at a CITO event

Distinctive log entry

2.8k · January 28, 2006

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.

January 28, 2006

so sorry for your loss.... Michelle & kids

8.1k · January 28, 2006

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

Edited January 28, 2006 by avroair

3.9k · January 28, 2006

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.

-Joe

From the Hudson Highlands Jaunt a couple of years ago.

Edited January 28, 2006 by JMBella

January 28, 2006

Met him once on the trails and he joined me in a search.A very pleasant man.My condolences to his family.

38.2k · January 28, 2006

Rest in peace Helmut. You will be missed.

3k · January 28, 2006

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.

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

3k · January 28, 2006

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

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.

January 28, 2006

Mike and I would like to express our deepest condolences to Liz ad Helmut's daughters. We are truly sorry for your loss.

Mike & Nikki

-Jerseytrex-

7.2k · January 29, 2006

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.

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

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.

January 29, 2006

The members of TPB offer our most sincere condolences to the Mueller family. The few times met Helmut he was smiling and enjoying himself. This is how I'll remember him.

January 29, 2006

I am saddened by the news. it's always difficult when someone so young (43 is still young in my book, well... middle aged, but definately not old!) goes suddenly like that. my condolances to the family.

January 29, 2006

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.

January 29, 2006

I can't even find the words to express my sorrow at hearing this. My thoughts are with his family.

We're all better off for having known Helmut - and worse off with his sudden departure.

I'm going to try and attend the wake. Please post if there's a fund being setup in his behalf.

January 29, 2006

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.

1.4k · January 29, 2006

I don't know how to put into words how sorry and sad I am. Helmut was a man I looked up to and respected for many reasons.

His family is in my prayers.

January 29, 2006

Condolences from lpyankeefan, Mrs. lpyf, and both of The_Incredibles.

Godspeed good spirit.

January 29, 2006

My condolences to all his family and friends. I'm so sorry for your loss.

January 29, 2006

Sad week, indeed...Our Prayers for the family!

Sad News For NJ Geocachers

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