Joyce Helms honored for 40 years service

MILFORD - Pike County Council Republican Women recently recognized retired Prothonotary Joyce Z. Helms. She is the longest serving Republican woman and also the first woman ever elected Pike County Prothonotary. Helms held her position at a historic time highlighted by extraordinary population growth and the inception of computerized record keeping. Helms’ career of public service to Pike County residents started in 1965 when she was named first deputy prothonotary, recorder of deeds, clerk of the courts, registrar of wills, and clerk of the Orphans Court. She was appointed in 1984 to fulfill the unexpired term of her predecessor. Helms was then elected in her own right for the next 20 years. In all that time, she faced only one contested race , a spring primary which she won by well over a two to one margin. In 1995, because of Pike County’s growth, the offices of Registrar of Wills and Recorder of Deeds were separated from her other duties.