The fourth child of William Carl and Mary (Rambow) Heiden was Lester Johann Wilhelm Heiden who was born on Thursday, January 5, 1905 at the family home at the "Albright" farm which was located on South Custer Road near where Dixon Road ends..

He attended Bridge School through the 8th grade after the family moved to 8861 Dixon Road in 1909.

On Wednesday, June 3, 1925 Lester married Lila Ella Viets at St Matthew Lutheran Church. Lila's twin sister, Lela, was married to Lester's cousin, Edwin "Pete" Heiden. Lester and Lila had three children, Robert William, Dale Arthur and Donna Mae (Sedelbauer) Burge.

Lester was employed by River Raisin Paper Co. in Monroe from 1925 to 1942 and the Willow Run Bomber Plant in Willow Run, Michigan during the war yeas from 1942 until 1944. He then turned to farming at the family farm on South Custer Road until he retired in 1966.

Lila was an active member of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church and was a former president of its Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church group. She also had served on the building committee when Prince of Peace was constructed in 1964. Lila was a past president of the Memorial Hospital Auxiliary and volunteered for the Monroe County Chapter of the Red Cross for over 15 years.

Their family lived in several places over the years of their marriage. For a while after their marriage, they lived with Lester's sister, Edna Berns and her family at 11501 Dixon Road.

According to an article about the Lila and Lela's 82nd birthday, they lived "on S. Custer Rd. in Dundee across the street from each other." An ad in The Dundee Reporter in 1936 described their home location as "...first house west of viaduct on south side of the road." Both refer to a place on South Custer Road east of Dundee. (We don't know the exact address of this house. If you do, please send an Email.)

For many years, they lived at 7299 South Custer (right), across the road from Lester's grandparents, Heinrich and Wilhelmina Rambow. In later life, they built a new home at 7358 South Custer immediately east of the Rambow's house.

For nine years, Lester served on the board of directors of the Ida Farmers Co-op. He also was a member of the Raisinville Township Zoning Board of Appeals and was a member of the board of the Monroe County Farm Bureau..

Les also served on many committees with his church including the building committee for the 1948 additions to St Matthew Lutheran Church. At the creation of the new Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, he was elected Vice-President of the congregation

In their retirement years, Lester and Lila lived in Florida during the winter months. The rest of the year, they lived at Mable Kehres Apartments in Monroe.

Lester died on Tuesday, August 11, 1992 at the age of 87 in Mercy Memorial Hospital in Monroe.

Lila preceded him in death having passed away on Thursday, October 19, 1989 at the age of 83. At the time of her death, Lila was a resident at the Beach Nursing Home in Monroe. Lester and Lila are buried at Roselawn Memorial Park in LaSalle, Michigan.

They had 7 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren at the time of Lester's death.

Lela and Lila were born to the Emil and Ethel (Whitney) McIlrath in Sylvania, Ohio. They were unable to support their children so the girls were adopted before the age of one and raised by their great uncle, Nedelmiah Viets. Their biological siblings included William McIlrath, Marie (McIlrath) Kanavel and Isabelle (McIlrath) Meyer. Click here for a photo.

The name is spelled Mcilrath with the "i" capitalized so it looks like a double ll depending on the font. Also, Lila was one-half hour younger than Lela.


At this time, Wm Carl (36) and Mary (32) were living at 8861 Dixon Road which they had purchased on April 1, 1909. Their children included Edna (11), Carl (9), Leo (7), Lester (5), Hilda (3) and Mildred (1). Note: At that time, Dixon Road was called River Road.

Wm Carl (46) and Mary (42) lived at the same farm with children Carl (19), Leo (17), Lester (15), Hilda (13), Mildred (11), Helma (9), Arthur (7), Marie (5), Wm Frank (2) and Helen Esther (<1).
Lester (25) and Lila (24) were living at 601 Sixth Street in Monroe, Michigan. Lester was listed as a printer at a paper mill. They had a lodger named Walter Gilliland.
Lester (35), Lila (34), Bobby (12) and Donna Mae (5) were shown as living on South Custer Road. Lester was listed as a Pressman at a Paper Mill and Lila was a Stitcher at the same company.

Note: They appeared next to the entry for Edwin "Pete" Heiden and family. At this time, the exact address was not listed on the census form. However, through other sources, we have narrowed it down to a small house probably at 12909 South Custer which was on the opposite (south) side of the road from Pete and Lela Heiden.
Lester (45) and Lila (44) were living at 7299 South Custer Road with their son, Bob (22) and daughter, Donna Mae (16). Lester's occupation was farmer.

The river was named "Riviere aux Raisin" by the French-Canadian people that first settled in Monroe County. They called it the River Raisin because of the wild grapes growing along its banks. This led to the naming of Raisinville Township and the community of Grape. Also many of the farms along the river are long and narrow so that each farm has access to the banks of the river in the French tradition.