HAMPSTEAD — John Helms, of Holly Ridge, NC, died November 29, 2025, peacefully in his home surrounded by family.
John, affectionately known as Santa, was born in Monroe, NC, on August 28,1944. He was the son of the late Mary Doss.
Santa was a proud U.S. Marine, serving from 1962-1968. During bootcamp, Santa was selected to serve on President John F. Kennedy’s protective detail at the White House. He also completed two tours of duty in Vietnam. Santa received an Honorable Discharge in 1968.
Once discharged, Santa continued to serve his community working for the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program. During his time with the program, Santa has collected thousands of toys and distributed them throughout the community for children. It was Santa’s mission each year to ensure that kids in the community had something under the Christmas tree. For the past several years, John has been “Santa” to thousands of children in the Pender and Onslow County areas.
Santa is survived by his son, James “Shrek” Helms and wife Pam of Hampstead, granddaughter Shauna Haslem and husband Kalo of Wade NC, and two precious great-grandchildren, Emma and Trenton.
Services for Santa will be held on December 4, 2025 at Andrews Mortuary and Crematory in Hampstead, NC. Visitation will be at 1:00 p.m., with the service starting at 2:00 p.m. Interment will be in Sea Lawn Memorial Park, Hampstead.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations of toys to be made to the Santa’s Sleigh program at the Lake Linda CHRISTmas Lights, 218 Old House Road, Hampstead NC 28443, or your nearest toy collection center.
