HEDDENS, Ralph Englke 1925-2014

HEDDONS, DEMRO, SLINGER

Posted By: COUNTY COORDINATOR
Date: 1/30/2014 at 12:45:12

CHARLES CITY, IOWA - Ralph Heddens, 88, of Charles City, died Wednesday, January 29, 2014, at Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa, Mason City.

Funeral services will be held 10 a.m. Saturday at St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, Charles City. Pastor Dennis Niezwaag will officiate. Burial will be in Riverside Cemetery at Charles City. There will be a flag presentation by the Charles City Ceremonial Unit. Friends may call at the Hauser Funeral Home from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday and at the church Saturday an hour prior to the service.

Ralph Englke Heddens was born November 30, 1925, in Floyd County, the son of E. D. and Edith (Demro) Heddens. He graduated from Nashua High School in 1944. Ralph served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946 receiving his basic training at Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Chicago, Ill., service school for Basic Engineering where he was trained as a Machinist Mate and then was stationed at Camp Bright Naval Supply Station in Guam.

On October 10, 1948, he was united in marriage to Lois Slinger at St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church with Pastor Walter Fritchel officiating. Following his discharge he worked farming for his uncle, Lloyd Hooper, at Gladbrook. He returned to Charles City where he worked for the Oliver Corporation for five years and then started farming in 1952. In 1958, he built a new house on the farm and continued milking cows until his retirement on January 1, 1990.

Ralph was a member of St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, Nashua Boat Club and lifetime member of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

He was also a former member of Charles City Milk Producers Board of Directors, North Iowa Milk Producers Board of Directors, Floyd County Memorial Hospital Board of Directors, Farm Service Coop Board of Directors, Farm and Home Administration Board of Directors, Moose Lodge, Nashua Town and Country Club and Saint John Lutheran Brotherhood.

Ralph was an avid fisherman having fished all over the United States, Canada, Mexico and overseas. Other interests included farming, politics, traveling and watching sporting events. His greatest joy, however, was spending time with his family and sharing life’s experiences with them.

Living family members include his wife of 65 years, Lois Heddens of Charles City; four children, Jon D. (Eija) Heddens of Centralia, Wash., David R. (Dee) Heddens of Alton, Thomas B. (Julie) Heddens of Charles City and Mary Elizabeth “Libby” (Greg) Johnson of Independence, Mo.; 10 grandchildren, Liisa, Tanya, Levi, Ryan, Travis, Jenny, Dustin and Brent Heddens and Brandi and Lauren Johnson; four great- grandchildren, Isaiah, Lilli and Samuel Johnson and Ari Heddens; and two brothers, Paul W. (Pat) Heddens of Charles City and James D. (Joan) Heddens of Marshalltown.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Richard A. Heddens.

Hauser Funeral Home, 641-228-2323, Charles City, is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.hauserfh.com.

Source: Mason City Globe Gazette, 30 JAN 2014