An emergency room nurse and teacher, Dotha H. Hellyer trained hundreds of firefighters to be paramedics at a time when the notion of having firefighters take care of people was still a novel idea. “She had a big impact on paramedics in the northwest suburbs and parts of Chicago,” said Bob Falardeau, deputy chief of the Palatine Fire Department, who was trained as a paramedic by Mrs. Hellyer in 1977. “She was the toughest teacher,” said her son Timothy, a former Palatine firefighter who was trained by his mother in 1979. Mrs. Hellyer, 71, died after suffering a stroke Monday, March 23, in Provena St. Joseph Hospital, Elgin. Born in the Philippines, Mrs. Hellyer, known as “Dodie,” grew up in Chicago, graduating from Waller High School and Norwegian-American Hospital’s nursing school in Chicago. She and her husband, William, married in 1953. She worked as a nurse at Norwegian-American, Weiss Memorial Hospital, and Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. Mrs. Hellyer in 1977 joined Northwest Community Hospital’s Emergency Medical Services. She ran the EMS training program for nearly 20 years. In the 1980s, she took evening and weekend classes at National-Louis University and received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in education. Survivors also include another son, William; two daughters, Julie and Deborah; a sister, Connie Walmsley; and five grandchildren. Visitation will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. Sunday and 4 to 9 p.m. Monday in Meadows Funeral Home, 3615 Kirchoff Rd., Rolling Meadows. A service will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday in the funeral home.
