Mary Heckenberg

Mary Heckenberg

Eddyville. Mary E. Heckenberg, 85, of rural Eddyville, died Wednesday, December 8, 2010, at Good Samaritan Nursing and Rehab in Ottumwa. She was born May 17, 1925 at Ottumwa, the daughter of Fritz and Esther Andersson Lagerstrom. Mary graduated from the Ottumwa High School with the class of 1943. Early in her adult life, she worked in customer service at the Iowa/Illinois Gas and Electric. On January 14, 1951, she was united in marriage to Dale E. Heckenberg at Ottumwa. Following their marriage, they farmed near Eddyville their entire married life. Mary was a former member of the First Lutheran Church, Ottumwa, and now a longtime member of the First Chrristian Church in Oskaloosa, where she had served as chairman of the Church board, a Deaconess, and a CWF group leader. She enjoyed playing cards, especially pitch, golfing, and traveling. Mary and Dale traveled to many places throughout the United States, and to Sweden in 1983, and in 2001 to Europe. They wintered in Arizona for many winters.

Her family includes her husband, Dale Heckenberg of rural Eddyville; two sons: Paul Heckenberg of Eddyville; and Terry (and Barb) Heckenberg of Pella; and one sister: Martha Sweetland of Yorba Linda, California.

She was preceded in death by her parents; four sisters: Bertha Maxwell, Bernice Bitner, Ruth Hendricks, and Signe Piper; and a brother: Edwin Lagerstrom.

Funeral services will be held Friday, December 10, 2010, at 10:30 a.m. in the Bates Funeral Chapel in Oskaloosa with the Reverend Michael Omundson officiating. Burial will be in the Henness Cemetery, southwest of Oskaloosa. Visitation will begin at the funeral chapel on Thursday after 2 p.m., and the family will be at the funeral chapel on Thursday from 5 – 7 p.m. to greet friends and relatives. Memorials may be made to Alzheimers Disease or Oskaloosa First Christian Church Building Fund.

Source: Bates Funeral Chapel