Doc O.J. Helvey USA Judo Champion

If you ever attended Cumberland College in Williamsburg, Kentucky, then there is no doubt that the name “Doc Helvy” means something to you. His given name was Omer James Helvey. To the students that walked the campus of Cumberland College in Williamsburg most of us simply called him “Doc”, and to those students that were not participants of the Judo Program, which he founded, he was still “Doc” and loved all students, believing that if you set your mind to it, you could do it. The official record will reflect he was a representative on the U.S. Olympic Committee. He coached from the wrestling mats at Cumberland College many Olympians through the sport of Judo.
I believe it is an amazing statement to say that I don’t know of a resident student that passed through Cumberland from 1963 until his retirement in 1986 that doesn’t have a memory of Doc Helvy. Something he said to them or the assistance they received from him, because he was a student’s friend always. I remember meeting him when I was registering as a entering freshman, but really got to know him when I was an officer with the Student Government Association. Doc Helvy was someone that would give you a professional opinion but with a real upfront down home slant. You didn’t have to wonder what he was thinking or what his suggestion was to you, if you asked his opinion. Yet, he would always allow you to make your own decision, and he would even walk through that with you even if you had not followed his advice. That is different and that’s why his former student athletes and students a like love him so.
I personally know several of his former athletes that wrestled under his leadership and his recent passing created a flood of memories in their lives, recalling all the advice they had received from him, and no doubt they may have very well given Doc credit for advice that he didn’t give, but he would smile today I’m sure, just knowing he was so loved and well thought of. As a sports official who worked collegiate athletics, Doc was also a welcomed face on the scores table at Cumberland. As an official, or referee as most would say, sometimes you’ve must go to the scorers table to get a clarification of what happened, and it wasn’t just any scores table a basketball official could turn to, but with Doc at the score book, you always knew, even if it was against Cumberland, he would help you discover the truth. That is something else that is also amazing to me.
In today’s modern age of high tech everything it is refreshing to remember the simple acts of getting to know someone face to face. Learning the why’s and how to, is not always information that some folks will share. While Cumberland College provides the academic setting for learning in the classroom, most individuals have never underestimated the real value of education. That is when someone shares who they are and what they know, without a book, but from the heart with every intention to see you achieve greater then themselves. That my friend was “Doc O.J. Helvey” and the difference he has made in the lives of students will not be forgotten in my life, as long as I live, and my thoughts would be that those of us he impacted, that we share the values he taught to others just as he invested in us.
The Bible shares many scriptures that touch all our lives in many different ways. Currently I am thinking that it is more blessed to give then receive, but I am glad I received from Doc, and now is my time to give, so here I go.

Until then