Bernice Comp Heichel

HEICHEL, COMP, FENIMORE, FRAJAM

Posted By: Mary Welty Hart (email)
Date: 6/29/2006 at 16:41:36

Winterset Madisonian, Winterset, Iowa
June 28, 2006

BERNICE HEICHEL, Winterset

Bernice I. Heichel, 89, of Winterset died June 13, 2006. Services were held Saturday, June 17, at the First United Methodist Church in Winterset, of which she was a member. Burial was in the Winterset Cemetery.

Bernice Heichel was born Dec. 21, 1916, on the family farm in Madison County, Iowa, to Frank Wesley and Mable (Fenimore) Comp. She was a 1935 graduate of Winterset High School. During her senior years of high school, she worked at the Iowa State House as a secretary to then State Representative Arthur Weed. Following graduation, she attended the American Institute of Business in Des Moines, and later was employed as a stenographer by the F.W. Fitch Company in Des Moines. In 1936, she was chosen as queen of the Des Moines Junior Chamber of Commerce at its May Day Frolic, sponsored by the Fitch Company. As a reward, she received a 10-day tour of Texas during which she appeared at the Texas Centennial Exposition as “Miss Iowa” on Iowa Day.

On Feb. 7, 1937, she married Harold H. Heichel of Park Falls, Wis. In 1942, during World War II, Bernice and Harold relocated to California during his employment with the Emergency Rubber Project, United States Forest Service. In 1946, they moved back to Winterset, and in 1949, entered the family farm enterprise in Madison County — retiring in 1979. Bernice was a member of the First United Methodist Church, United Methodist Women, Progressive Study Club, and P.E.O. Chapter AG. She was an officer in several of the organizations, as well as a longtime participant in Madison County Pork Producers Association functions and Madison County Covered Bridge Festival activities.

Bernice Heichel is survived by her husband, Harold, of Winterset; a son, Dr. Gary (Iris) Heichel of Martinsburg, W.Va.; three grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and many other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents; a twin sister, Eunice; a sister, Ilo Dodge; a daughter, Patricia Frajman; an infant granddaughter; and an infant great-grandson.

Memorial contributions in Bernice’s memory may be directed to the First United Methodist Church or Middle River Hospice.

Collins Oak Park Chapel & Funeral Services