On May 28th and September 24th, 1995 different groups of descendents of William Carl and Mary Heiden met to share their family memories. The conversations were recorded and later written transcripts were made. Below are excerpts which relate to this person or topic..

Pictured is what was called a cassette tape back in pre-digital times.

 

Dianne (Heiden) Houpt - Did you get my reply to your E-mail?

Ralph Heiden - Yes. Isn’t that amazing.

Dianne (Heiden) Houpt - Ralph says on his email to me, “This is a long way from the farm, isn’t it? From the farm to email.”

Ralph Heiden - Myrna (Drake) Bishop’s husband, Jim, (left) is a professor at Notre Dame so we have been emailing things back and forth for a while now. It is a local call so it doesn’t cost anything.

(Note: This was in "ancient" times (1995) when internet connections went through a modem and a telephone line. I had a second phone line installed because while you were on the internet, you couldn't get regular phone calls to your land line which is another ancient technology.)

Helen (Henning) Heiden - Who is that now?

Ralph Heiden - That is Bertha (Heiden) Drake’s son-in-law. He is married to Myrna.

Mary Lou (Heiden) Opfermann - Where is Walter Berns’ daughter? She’s a professor too.

Ralph Heiden - Margie (right) is a professor of linguistics at Purdue University. She has her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois.

Marie (Heiden) Tommelein - She got married recently didn’t she?

Ralph Heiden - Yes. I think they are both professors at Purdue. There are also several medical doctors in the family now. Linda’s daughter, Erin, is a doctor. And so is Connie Sedelbauer and she is married to a doctor. She has a pretty responsible position at the University of Michigan Hospital.

Dianne (Heiden) Houpt  - That’s where I work and I see her all the time there. She’s partly in our department now. She is so pretty.

Mary Lou (Heiden) Opfermann - Where is Linda’s daughter a physician at then?

Ralph Heiden - I think she is at the Indiana University Hospital in Indianapolis.

Helen (Henning) Heiden -   I think both of Linda’s daughters are moving back to Michigan now. Linda mentioned that at the reunion.

Ralph Heiden - It’s also amazing to look at where all the kids have gone to college. Some of Carol’s (Toburen) (left) children went to Millersville University in Pennsylvania. Janice’s (Clark) (right) went to Louisiana Tech and Northeast Louisiana.

Dianne (Heiden) Houpt  - That’s interesting because before I came over here today, I went back and looked through all that stuff to see where all my nieces and nephews went to college.

William Frank Heiden - Millersburg. Isn’t that were Mike (Toburen) was taking a class and it turned out the guy teaching wasn’t even a professor. They arrested him and found out he did the same thing somewhere else too.

Helen (Henning) Heiden -   Mike said the kids knew more than he did!

Over the years, we have also received written memories and remembrances about this person or topic from various family members.


Comments from Bertha and Cecil's grandsons, Craig and Andy Bishop, sons of their daughter, Myrna Bishop.

Grandson, Craig Bishop

When we were kids, we went to Lake George to visit Grandma and Grandpa for two or more weeks every summer and for about ten days at Christmas.

Grandpa would take us on pontoon boats around the lake. Sometimes we would go fishing. One time I caught a small mouth bass that was huge. Another time Grandma caught a huge northern pike that jumped off the hook onto the pontoon. The fish was flopping allover the pontoon. Grandpa grabbed a paddle and was trying to hit the fish to keep it from going back into the lake. He finally hit it and they had it for dinner.

In winter we would help Grandma and Grandpa cut holes in the ice and set the hooks for ice fishing. Then we would go back to the house and watch for the flag to pop up. Sometimes Grandpa would take the snowmobile down the hill to the lake to see if they had caught a fish.

When I was five or six, I went snowmobiling and did not want to stop even when I was cold and my feet were very cold. Mom and Grandma were afraid that I had frostbite and put my feet in warm water to warm them up.

When I was older, the Van Ordens came up with their snowmobiles and a group of us followed the trails back into the woods by the pipelines. Our snowmobile stopped and wouldn't start. Grandpa drove the Torino back there to help start the snowmobile and got stuck in the snow. It was already late and getting dark so we had to leave it there until the next day. We all had to shovel and push to get it out of the snow.

Sometimes we and the neighbors' grandkids would make a hockey rink and play hockey.
 

Grandson, Andy Bishop

Every summer we would go to Lake George to visit Grandma and Grandpa. We would swim all day. Sometimes we would take the paddle boat or canoe back into the lily pads to pick blossoms and catch frogs. We would bring our bikes and ride allover. I usually got to celebrate my birthday at the lake and Grandma would bake me a cake. Ah! Those were the days.

Speaking of baking, Grandma makes the best sugar cookies-soft and big. At Christmas after we grew up, she gives us our own box of cookies. One summer Grandpa and I made a kayak using a frame and an old awning. The fabric ripped out fairly quickly but we had fun doing it. Grandma wanted a picture of a fish painted on the pontoon so I painted it for her.

In the winter we would go snowmobiling. I liked the yellow Ski Doo best. We would help Grandpa put new starter pull ropes on them. Grandpa would tinker with those old machines to keep them going. One year when we came back, the Ski Doo had quit and Grandpa had it in a million pieces trying to fix it. No more Ski Doo.

One year Lake George was frozen with smooth clear ice all over. We skated allover the lake and played ice hockey. It only happened that year. Usually it was snow covered and rough.

After we were teenagers, Grandma and Grandpa spent the several winters in a RV park near Orlando, Florida. We would go down during Christmas break to visit them. What fun we had going to Disney World, Sea World, and the beaches especially Cocoa Beach with them.

 

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Mildred Heiden Ralph Heiden Marie Tommelein  Brick Tommelein 
Wm Frank Heiden Helen Heiden Dianne Houpt Mary Lou Opfermann
Wilma Bicking Pat Klass Helma Nickel Jeanie Heiden
 
  • Wilma, Jeanie, Wm Frank, Helma & Marie were children of Wm Carl and Mary Heiden

  • Mildred was married to Arthur Heiden, son of Wm Carl and Mary and was mother of Ralph Heiden

  • Helen was wife of Wm Frank and they were parents of Dianne

  • Pat was daughter of Wilma Bicking

  • Mary Lou is daughter of Leo and Lucille Heiden

  • Ralph, Dianne, Pat and Mary Lou were first cousins

  1. Wm Carl & Mary Heiden
  2. Wm Carl Heiden
  3. Mary (Rambow) Heiden
  4. Heinrich & Emma (Stock) Heiden
  5. Herman & Reka Heiden (Article)
  1. Herman & Reka Heiden (Drake)
  2. Heinrich & Wilhelmina Rambow
  3. Walter Berns Poem
  4. Family Fun Times

  1. Alice Berlin
  2. Edna Berns
  3. Lavern Berns
  4. Walter Berns
  5. Wilma Bicking
  6. Myrna Bishop
  7. Caroline Brown
  8. Bertha Burgard
  9. Donna Burge
  10. Rika Burmeister
  11. Janice Clark
  12. Bertha Drake
  13. Mildred Eipperle
  14. Hilda Fuller
  15. Walter Grams
  16. Sally Guy
  17. Arthur Heiden
  18. August & Rika Heiden
  19. August Heiden Children
  20. Carl Heiden
  21. Ernst Heiden
  22. Harold Heiden
  23. Heinrich Heiden
  24. Heinrich Heiden Children
  25. Helen E. Heiden
  26. Henry Wm Heiden
  27. Herman Heiden
  28. Herman & Reka Heiden
  29. John Heiden
  30. Leo Heiden
  31. Lester Heiden
  32. Maria Heiden
  33. Mary Heiden
  34. Meta Heiden
  1. Norma "Jeanie" Heiden
  2. Robert Heiden
  3. Roger Heiden, Sr.
  4. Velda Heiden
  5. Wm Carl & Mary Heiden
  6. Wm Frank Heiden
  7. William Leo Heiden
  8. Dianne Houpt
  9. Kanseyer Family
  10. Lena Koster
  11. Marvin Koster
  12. Laas Family
  13. Libbie Laas
  14. William Laas
  15. Lucille Lehmkuhl
  16. Milhan Family
  17. Frederick Milhan
  18. Henry Milhan
  19. Linda Miller
  20. Möller Family
  21. Helma Nickel
  22. Mary Lou Opfermann
  23. Rambow Family
  24. The Rambows by Drake
  25. Fred Rambow
  26. Henry Rambow III
  27. Minnie Rambow
  28. Wilhelmina Rambow
  29. Fredareka Schmidt
  30. Pastor Don Thomas
  31. Carol Toburen
  32. Dennis Tommelein
  33. Marie Tommelein

  1. Bridge School
  2. Christmas Eve Party
  3. Dentist Visit
  4. Dixon Rd Lots
  5. The Great Depression
  6. Education
  7. Emigration
  8. Five Generations
  9. German Book
  10. Germany
  11. Grape Community
  12. Wm Heiden Home Farm
  13. Indian Burial Ground
  14. Letters from Germany
  15. Life on the Farm
  1. Lutheran Church
  2. Mecklenburg, Germany
  3. Middle Names
  4. Nephews
  5. Helma Nickel's Cooking
  6. Old Receipts
  7. Reunions
  8. Sparrow Hunting
  9. Stormy Weather
  10. Wedding Shiveree
  11. Willows by the River
  12. The Woodlot
  13. Work on the Farm
  14. Wakefield Gifts