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 Edwin Herman Ernst "Pete" Heiden
was born July 30, 1899 as the second child of
Ernst "Ernest" and Anna (Knack) Heiden.
He was born at the family home at
8925 South Custer Road.
He
attended the one-room Fonia School which was located about a mile
or so away at 11411 Trost Road through the 8th grade.
On December 8, 1926,
married Lela Ella Viets at the
St
Matthew Lutheran Church in
Raisinville Township. Lela was the twin sister of
Lila (Viets) Heiden who was married to Pete's cousin, Lester Heiden.
The sisters were born on February 14, 1906.
For much of their married live,
Pete and Lela lived at
12880 South Custer Road between Dixon and
Alford Roads where they raised their 3 children.
Pete worked for
31 years at Consolidated Packaging Company in Monroe, Michigan.
During World War II, Lela worked at the Willow Run Bomber plant
near Ypsilanti and later was employed by Yeck Manufacturing in
Dundee for 8 years.
He passed away on July 7, 1977 in
Mercy Memorial Hospital in Monroe at the age of 77 and is buried
in
Maple
Grove Cemetery in Dundee, Michigan. Lela died on
December 12, 2001 at the age of 95 and is also buried in
Maple
Grove Cemetery. Lela's
obituary states that she had 25 grandchildren, 18 great
grandchildren and 6 great great grandchildren. Our database
shows Donald with 4 children, Deloris with 4 and Glenn
with 2 for a total of 10 grandchildren. |
Lela
and Lila were born into the Frank McIlrath family but were
adopted and raised by the Viets family. Their biological
siblings included William McIlrath, Marie (McIlrath) Kanavel and
Isabelle (McIlrath) Meyer.
