Helms Family

SanJac River Ranch

Brief history of the Helms family in Texas and the SanJac River Ranch

Bill & Mary

The Texas portion of the Helms family got it's start when Bill and Mary Helms met their senior year at "Ole Miss" and married right after graduation. Although both were seniors at the same time, it is important to point out that Bill is almost five years older as he spent a few years pursuing his interest in drag racing and honky tonks.

Meeting their last year in college took divine intervention as Bill grew up 700 miles away in Florida while Mary's early years were spent only a few miles from the college campus. Bill obtained his degree in Mechanical Engineering and Mary's degree is in Education.

After graduation, Bill's interest in engineering/construction involved new locations every two or three years bringing them to Houston in 1973. Texas soon became home and roots grew deep and are still strong today. However, career opportunities required moving the family to the Mid-East , California and later to Europe, always returning to home base in Houston when the project was completed.

As Bill pursued a career in the oil/gas construction business, Mary put her energies into family and home. During this period our son, D Jay Helms, was born keeping Mary very busy. Today, grandchildren get a lot of her attention as family is very important.

SanJac

The love for family, the great out doors and a passion for cattle all came together at the SanJac in 1994.

After many relocations, changing houses, various other distracting hobbies and interest, Mary and Bill developed a desired for a living style different than suburban Houston. There is no telling how many tracts of land we looked at before settling on this piece of land in San Jacinto County. The main criteria for property was "it had to have character" and with tracts of timber, hills, woods, pastures and the San Jacinto River as the West property line this location had more than its fair share of character. With the river, it just seem natural for the infant ranch to be called the SanJac and once you visit you will know why we call it "our piece of heaven".

The rural location just out side of the small East Texas town of Coldspring, has provided the ideal location to raise cattle and grandchildren. Plus it provides a great gathering place for our extended family of friends and relatives from different states.

Since it's humble start, the cattle operation has grown to about 100 + cow/calf units. The focus is on quality not quantity and the Brangus breed fits the hot sticky nature of the "Piney Woods". The ranch is focused on producing the best Brangus cattle possible and to achieve this we use the genetics formulated around the Mound Creek Ranches program as we market our cattle through their production sales in May and October of each year.

Our breeding program is based on Artificial Insemination (AI) of each cow utilizing the top sires from the Brangus Breed. We also believe that our "follow-up" bulls must be of the same caliber as the AI sires. Check out the Sires page to learn more!

The SanJac is truly a family operation. Family means everyone! Mary is the herd manager and knows every cow by name. She has developed an eye for the herd and their genetic value. Bill retired in 2005 so the ranch now has a full time engineer which can result in a lot of "over thinking" and planning. Because family and friends of all ages enjoy the ranch, safety is a key concern and our commitment to safety assures that the animals have a good attitude and are workable. If they can't meet this fundamental requirement they are immediately culled.

The Brangus cattle met this requirement. They are good mama's and are much more gentle than people think. Most of the cattle are born on the ranch and spend their whole lives here. They are content to let us walk up too them which we do almost daily.

The SanJac Team

D. Jay Helms (son and heir apparent) is a Safety Manager for a major construction contractor, and part time ranch hand. With his degree in Safety Engineering, it is no wonder that we at SanJac take safety very seriously. Jay is the computer brain and keeps the web-site up-to-date and operational. He also loans us our grandson when we need a little boy around.

Kaleb M. Helms is the number one Grandson and future CEO. Kaleb is 100% boy and the ranch gives him plenty of room to burn energy. He is very interested in all types of animals and a willing helper. From Kaleb view point, he owns the ranch and the rest of the family just work here allowing him time to go to school.

Kaleb started driving the Mule at almost 7 yrs old. It is his "motorized vehicle' and drives the ranch roads and pastures constantly.

Don and Pam Helms: The support team, always ready for a new assignment, even if it means flying in from Florida to help out. Don is Bill's younger brother and is game to come to Texas whenever we need an extra hand or plan to hunt feral hogs. He is the official branding technician, and over the years has developed a real talent for it. All of the SJ freeze brands were applied by Don. Although living a 1000 miles away, Don and Pam are actively involved in the ranch operation and have purchased several animals on their own.

Jarrett Robison: Our newest hand is a senior at Coldspring High School. He is well known in the area and state ranked for showing short horn heifers .

His interest is in cattle judging and hopes to pursue this in college.

Here at the SanJac everyone is involved from the youngest to the oldest, it is truly a family business based on family valves. It is our piece of heaven and we would like for you to come by and look around, you will be glad you did.

Play Time, Summer 2007:

The ranch is a 24/7 job and sometimes we need a change in scenery. Therefore, this summer Mary was adamant that we take the grandkids to Disney World before they were too old or we were too old Since Bill's family is from Florida, Don stepped in and helped plan the trip that also included a few days at the family ( Don and Jane's) cabin on the Weeki Wachee River.

After walking at least a million miles in the Disney parks, we made our way to the Weeki Wachee River to cool off in the spring fed water . This is a family retreat that Bill's family has enjoyed since he was Kaleb's age. Bill's younger sister, Jane, also joined the group making a complete family reunion.

Bill's mom is still in Clearwater, Florida so the great grandkids got to visit with her also.

A special treat was when Bill's nephew Shawn Helms and his wife, Crystal, showed up for a few days. Shawn, who is in the Army, is scheduled to deploy to Iraq in Oct.

Florida August 2007