Donald Edwin Heiden was born August 18, 1927 as the first child of Edwin "Pete" and Lela (Viets) Heiden at their home on North Macomb Street in Monroe, Michigan.

Don went on to graduate from Dundee High School in 1945. He then served his country in the U.S. Navy from June 21, 1945 to August 22, 1946 following the end of World War II. On January 3, 1951 he  re-enlisted in the US Air Force  and served until his discharge December 10, 1954 during the Korean War.

He then worked as a Rural Mail Carrier for the U.S. Postal Service.

He married Doris Elinor Petee on June 30, 1951 at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Deerfield, Michigan. Don was stationed at Oscoda Air Force Base at the time. They had four children. A son, Gregory Donald Heiden, died in 2021.

Don died at the Alice Lorraine Care Center in Monroe, Michigan on February 23, 2021 at the age of 93. Doris who was born July 4, 1929,  passed on October 27, 2017 at the same facility at the age of 88. She was a 1947 graduate of Summerfield High School.