Samuel Helton, a man known for his generosity

CAROL HELTON saw the new playground equipment outside the Friends School, in Woodbury, N.J., where she was a student, but she wasn't prepared for what came next.

She was called outside and asked if she would like to be the first to slide down the new sliding board.

It wasn't until a few weeks later that she found out why she had been accorded such a privilege: Her father had donated the equipment to the school.

Her father, Samuel Helton, was a prominent Camden County businessman whose generosity to the community and its people was legendary.

It embraced not only schools, churches and other institutions, but individuals as well. Just about anyone who needed a hand up could count on Sam Helton.

But his humility matched his generosity. He never wanted any kind of display or recognition. He just did what he felt he had to do to give back to his community.

Sam Helton, whose desperate early life might have stymied a person without his fortitude and drive, died Wednesday. He was 95 and lived in Cherry Hill.

He was born in Richmond, Va., to a mother, Virgie, who died when he was a baby. He was then moved to Camden and raised by a series of friends, passed from one to another and, apparently, never staying long anywhere.

He never went past seventh grade.

The odds, in other words, were stacked against him. But Sam said in later life that his childhood experiences actually strengthened him and gave him compassion for others in similar circumstances.

"He was unique - he defied the odds," said his son-in-law, Mark Frisby, Daily News publisher. "He wasn't supposed to be successful. He grew up in the streets."

With limited education and the tough life of an orphan behind him, Sam Helton pitched into the business life of Camden County. He saved his money from odd jobs and bought a tavern in Camden called Sam's Place.

Over the years, he owned a gas station and a car dealership in Pennsauken, and eventually 55 properties in the area.

He also served as recreation director of Camden in the '70s.

"Everything he set his mind to, he did 100 percent," Frisby said.

Sam didn't hesitate to talk about his childhood experiences.

"We talked about it for hours," Frisby said. "It taught him how he never wanted his kids to live. That was why he ended up being so generous. He knew what it was like to not know where you would be sleeping that night."

In 1958, he married the former Jean Thomas.

Sam was a devoted churchman, starting with the Second Baptist Church, in Swedesboro, N.J., later switching to St. John's Baptist Church, in Camden, where he was a trustee and benefactor.

Among his gifts were choir robes for the church, and uniforms for schools.

Sam was baptized in Camden, but, in 1980, he traveled to Israel, where he was baptized in the Jordan River.

"He said it was the most holy experience of his life," Frisby said. "He came back a changed person."

The birth of his daughter was another life-changing experience for Sam Helton. He was 46 when she was born.

"She was his whole world," Frisby said. "All he wanted to know was that she was safe."

In the '60's, the Heltons moved from Camden to Cherry Hill Estates to give Carol a safer environment in which to grow up.

Although he was generous in the extreme, Sam didn't just hand money to people.

"If someone needed money to pay their rent, he would tell them they should have saved something," Frisby said. "He would make them put up part of the money and he would pay the rest. He didn't want to promote laziness."

Sam was an avid reader, especially the Bible. He would read the Bible two hours every morning and two hours at night.

"He would tell people, 'Pick up a book, pick up a book.' Nobody robs a library," Frisby said.

"For the last 20 years, he was legally blind and would use a huge magnifying glass so he could keep on reading."

His loyal wife took care of him after he was afflicted with Alzheimer's disease eight years ago, disdaining the idea of putting him in a nursing home. She devoted herself to his care even when he no longer recognized her.

Besides his wife and daughter, he is survived by a son, Konrad, and four grandchildren.

Services: 11 a.m. Thursday at St. John's Baptist Church, in Camden. Friends may call at 9 a.m. Burial will be in Sunset Cemetery, Pennsauken. *