Walt Helmick, a former high school welding instructor and small business owner who went on to a career in public office that included 22 years in the West Virginia Senate and a term as state Agriculture Commissioner, died Saturday at age 81.

A native of Webster Springs, Helmick studied welding after graduating from high school and went on to teach welding at Pocahontas County High School and establish H and S Welding Supply in Marlinton in 1973. Politics

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His debut as an elected official took place in 1976, when he was voted into a term on the Pocahontas County Board of Education, followed two years later by his election to the Pocahontas County Commission, where he served until being elected

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