Colonel Helen DePrima

Colonel Helen DePrima’s Kentucky heritage runs deep. Her great-grandfather, Heinrich Holzheimer, journeyed from Germany to the Louisville area in the mid-19th century, where he operated a large potato farm in what is now St. Matthews in Louisville. This family legacy is commemorated by a park near an old freight depot. Colonel DePrima’s father, Raymond E. Bisha, also a Kentucky Colonel, embodied the values of hard work and service, moving from the mailroom of the L&N Railroad to Executive Vice-President and serving on numerous civic boards. This tradition of service is proudly carried on by Colonel DePrima and her husband, Colonel Carl DePrima, as they both actively promote the Kentucky Colonels’ many Good Works.

Colonel DePrima grew up on horseback on her grandfather’s farm in St. Matthews. Upon moving to New Hampshire, where she dedicated 25 years to wildlife rehabilitation in her husband’s veterinary practice, Colonel DePrima maintained her connection to Kentucky. She pursued her lifelong dream of becoming a published writer, and her recent books, Cave Creek and Odds, are the first two novels in a mystery series set in the Louisville area. Carrying on the family tradition of service as a Kentucky Colonel, Colonel DePrima strengthens the lives of Kentuckians through her stories and by promoting the Colonels’ Good Works.