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 nearby King School and then Bridge School through the 8th grade after the family moved to 8861 Dixon Road.

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.

He was a member of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church and was on the church council. Lester served on the board of the Ida Farmer's Co-Op and was also a member of the board of the Monroe County Farm Bureau.

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. Her volunteer activities included work with the Monroe Hospital Auxiliary Guild and the Monroe County Chapter of the American Red Cross.

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 (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.
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