Lewis E Heifner

HEIFNER KONIG SEILER

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 9/21/2010 at 22:17:53

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 1984

Lewis E Heifner
By Lewis Heifner

It was in July of 1764 when Albertus Haffner, and his wife, Maria Catherine, nee Konig, travelled down the Rhine River from their home in the Pfalz of Zweibrucken approximately 80 kilometers west of Karlsruhe, Germany, to the sea port of Rotterdam. It was from Rotterdam the Haffners sailed for the port of London, England.

At Gravesend on the Thames River they sailed for the Downs on 31st of July 1764 for the New World aboard the vessel, ‘King of Prussia’. The ship was owned by Neat and Company, out of New York according to Lloyd’s of London Registry of Ships. It was one of five vessels so named, but the only one listed as traveling between Philadelphia and London.

On October 3, 1764, the King of Prussia tied up at the Port of Philadelphia. Albertus, Maria and their two children had made the long voyage to their new homeland. Albertus’ signature appears on the passenger ship list.

Following a migration pattern across Pennsylvania to Iowa, a name change to Heifner by a grandson of Albertus, Lewis Ellsworth Heifner, was born August 9, 1933 at Afton, Iowa to the late Lewis Castor and Edythe A (Hughes) Heifner. Lewis E is the seventh generation in this country. His father, L C Heifner, was a rural mail carrier out of the small north-central Iowa community of Titonka for forty-six years. It was here Lewis E, was reared and attended school at the grade and high school level.

He later attended college at Britt Junior College and Drake University.

In the summer of 1950 he met his future wife, JoAnn Margaret Seiler. She is the daughter of the late Anthony J and Catherine C, nee Laux, Seiler. JoAnn was born October 12, 1932 on a farm near St Benedict, Iowa in Kossuth County. When she was preschool youngster she moved with her parents to Nashua, Iowa where they lived for a brief time before the family moved to a Wesley, Iowa. It was in Wesley where she received her education in the parochial and public schools.

On October 27, 1951, Lewis E and JoAnn M, were united in marriage at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Rapid City, South Dakota. He was employed in plumbing construction work at Ellsworth Air Force Base.

They moved back to Iowa in December where Lewis was employed at a hardware store in Wesley, Iowa. Lewis repaired appliances and serviced gas customers.

In the spring of 1953, Lewis and JoAnn moved to Albert Lea, Minnesota, where he was employed by the Rock Island Lumber Company, in the production of laminated rafters. On October 1, 1953, their first child, Thomas Lee, was born at Naeve Hospital.

The following August the Heifners moved to Charles City, Iowa where Lewis E entered a typesetting and printing school. They made their home along the banks of the Cedar River in a mobile home. On October 31, 1954, their only daughter, Jacqueline Kay, was born at the Floyd Valley Hospital.

Upon completion of the course of study, and receiving his certificate of achievement, Lewis began his newspaper career on the Rock Island Argus in Rock Island, Illinois. He was employed in the composing room as a typesetter. The newspaper was on strike and another opportunity for advancement presented itself.

In July of 1955 Lewis and JoAnn, with their two children, moving to Marengo, Iowa. He was employed on the Pioneer-Republican newspaper. While living in Marengo their second son, Robert Allen, was born on February 4, 1956, at St Luke’s Hospital in nearby Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

On May 10, 1958, Lewis and JoAnn became the parents of their fourth child, Lewis Anthony, who was born at the new Marengo Memorial Hospital.

In July of 1958, the Heifners purchased The Renwick Times at Renwick, Iowa. They were the youngest newspaper publishers in the state of Iowa at the time. For the next five and one-half years they published the weekly newspaper and operated a commercial printing plant. Three of their children began school at Renwick.

After transfer of the newspaper in November of 1963, they moved to Thief River Falls, Minnesota, where he was named Advertising Director of The Times. The Heifners resided in northern Minnesota until July of 1966 when they moved to Kent, Ohio.

Lewis was employed in a commercial printing plant as a sales representative and advisor on a college daily newspaper.

After a brief absence he returned to the newspaper profession in retail advertising sales on the Akron Beacon Journal in nearby Akron, Ohio.

The Heifners returned to Iowa in the summer of 1968 when Lewis E, accepted the position as business manager of The Globe. The Globe is the official newspaper for the Diocese of Sioux City and was established in 1953. In January 1975 he was named first lay General Manager/Editor of The Globe. He held this position until April 1, 1981 When he resigned to become Field Representative in western Iowa for U S Senator Charles E Grassley. He is in this employ at this writing.

JoAnn is a talented seamstress specializing in making draperies. She operates this business out of the home and has been sewing commercially since 1970. She began her sewing as a young girl making clothes for her nieces on a foot treadle sewing machine.

In 1978, Lewis and JoAnn Heifner ended five and one-half years of travel, research and writing by publishing a family history of the Heifners. The 358 page book entitled: The Heifners 1964-1976 covers the time of the family arriving in the New World until 1976.

The Heifners reside at 1234 S Fairmount Street in Sioux City and are members of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church.

Their children are all married. The eldest, Thomas L, married Teresa L Girard at St Boniface Catholic Church in Sioux City on May 24, 1975. Thomas and Teresa are both graduates of Iowa State University. They reside in Marion, Iowa where he is employed by North American Rockwell in the Collins Radio Division. They have a daughter, Elizabeth Ann, born January 14, 1981.

Jacqueline K, married Lawrence Busch on October 16, 1976 at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Sioux City. They reside in Anthon, Iowa where he is a self-employed carpenter. They have two children, Karolyn Marie and Mark Allen born December 23, 1979and December 24, 1981 respectively.

Robert A married Gloria Nevels at St Charles Catholic Church in Gladstone, Missouri on October 16, 1982. Robert is a graduate of Pittsburg State University where he received his degree in automotive technology. He is employed at Westfall GMC Truck in North Kansas City, Missouri.

Lewis A married Margaret Kunicki on November 20, 1982 at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Freeport, Pennsylvania. They reside in Dallas, Texas, where he is employed as a construction estimator for a development firm. Lewis A is a graduate of Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas where he received a degree in building technology.

They are the paints of a daughter, Margaret JoAnn, born October 11, 1983.