Joshua J. Hellwinckel

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JOSHUA JOHN HELLWINCKEL was born on January 3, 1985 to Robert and Lorilee (Arp) Hellwinckel in Pipestone, Minnesota. He was raised on the family farm north of Trosky, Minnesota. He spent his childhood on the farm where he started his lifelong love of tractors and motorcycles. In his younger years, he worked for his neighbor, Jeff Hunter, in the hog barns. He attended school in Pipestone where he graduated with the class of 2004. Following school, he began work at Bayliner where he was employed until the plant closed in 2009. In 2011, he began working as a technician at Titan Machinery in Pipestone. He lived on the family farm where he converted an outbuilding that he and his friends referred to as “the Shed”. It was complete with a custom bar that he built with his two good friends, the Krempges boys.

It didn’t matter who you were or what you did, he always treated people the same. He had a heart of gold and would give the shirt off his back for anyone – He was a big teddy bear! He loved helping people…that’s just the kind of person he was. He always had a smile on his face and loved to joke around. Josh loved people and could have a conversation with anyone, even people he didn’t know. He loved talking about the good ol’ days. He would watch old shows like “Andy Griffith” and “Laurel and Hardy” and could often be heard saying “man, I wish I had that old car/pickup.” He loved Chris Farley movies and would always impersonate him and recite his famous lines. He loved to have late night talks with friends on the phone and to stay up late with Ma, enjoyed torturing his dad and always stuck up for his little sister. Josh loved talking about music and singing old tunes, polkas, shaking dice, smoking cigars, and throwing parties, especially for the 4th of July and Superbowls. He sure loved his parties and doing all kinds of shenanigans! He loved going to the dive bars to hang with his friends…playing the jukebox constantly. He lived life to the fullest and loved to socialize! Every weekend he was out with friends and around people. He had his own shed/bar that he fixed up. He was so proud of it. When the bars would close, he would say “let’s all go to my bar for an after party, the night is young.” He partied all night and slept all day. Josh was a one-of-a-kind, his laugh and smile will be missed by many. He had all kinds of nicknames, ‘Scooty’ (because he was always scooting on down the road), ‘Little Joshy’, ‘Big Josh’ and ‘Hellie’. He loved his old tractors, vehicles and boats, he knew everything about them. Anything with a motor he would ride before a bike. In the summertime, you could find Josh riding his Harley Davidson or 1951 Chevy Belair - He loved his toys. He could never save any money, because he would find guns or vehicles he wanted. He collected toy tractors and beer signs.

Josh is survived by his parents, Robert and Lorilee; sister, Lindsey (Mike) Hunstad of Hardwick MN; numerous aunts, uncles and other family; and his favorite cat, Barf, aka “Punky;” and best dog, “Jack.” He was preceded in death by his grandparents, John and Elaine Hellwinckel and Myron and Lois Arp.