Ronnie Helfrich was a friend, a fellow band member, and a member of the Akron Police Department for 30 years.. He was a great guy, and a family man while being married to his loving wife Cheryl. Together they had three children. Two daughters and a son.

Ronnie is pictured above with the members of the Elites. From  L-R are Jon Hopkins, Ronnie, Dale Beckett, Rodney Mishler, and Me, Buzz Cincurak. We had a good run at a night club in Kent called the Fifth Quarter. 

Below are a few pictures (With Captions) of Ronnie along with the other members of the band.
The Elites started out by playing in the family rooms of Ellet students after football games, once the band was formed up in Ronnie's parent's upstairs bedroom. This gig was a step up when we began playing for Akron U Political Parties. We had NO Roadies!Here are the Elites taking a break during the Akron U gig. I (Buzz) was on leave from the Army at the time. A shot of the Political Party crowd wherever we were.The Elites hit it Big Time when they began playing at a night club in Kent called the Fifth Quarter. We later became the House Band for about a year until we started to split nights with the Counterpoints. These formal 3 pictures were taken by the Akron Beacon Journal when they did a story on the Fifth Quarter. This ia another Action shot of the band playing. It may look a lot like #4 but it is different. The next 5 photos were taken by someone who knew the band, Ritch Underwood, or Ronnie's wife Cheryl. But they were all taken at the Fifth Quarter in 1966.Ronnie sitting on his perch behind the band.This is an unusual photo. There I (Buzz) am at the organ, and Ronnie is on the drums. I see three guitars in the front line, but No Sax. Where is Rodney? Who is playing the third guitar? Here is the answer to my questions. It was this guy filling in for Rodney. But we still don't remember who he was.Jon E Hop playing harmonica and bass at the same time with Ronnie in the background.This is a photo I took at the Beach Boys Concert that the three of us attended three or four years ago at Blossom. Ronnie sawed the legs off of a wooden lawn chair, and tried to bring it in as a beach chair. It worked!Ronnie and Rodney at Blossom for the Beach Boys concert. Another pic at Blossom. I think Ronnie was giving me that look of: "OK, Enough pictures!"This is a photo taken the last time that the four of us were together in 2011 at a Mexican restaurant in Wadsworth called Casa Del Rio. L-R are Rodney Mishler, Jon Hopkins, Buzz Cincurak, and Ronnie. Little did we know then of the short time that Ronnie had left on this Earth!
IN MEMORY OF RONNIE HELFRICH
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This page was last updated: February 23, 2015