JoAnn (Heiden) Kimlin provided comments on several members of her father, Henry William Heiden's family. This included her uncles, William Leo and August John Heiden, and aunts, Elsie (Heiden) Klatt, Dorothy (Heiden) Strzesinski, Esther (Heiden) Kehrer and Libbie (Heiden, Frank) Murdock. She also commented on cousins Nelda Billau and Beverly Hammond.

August John "Gust" Heiden

"I remember visiting Grandma when she lived in the big white house (I think it was just down the street from where Aunt Libbie & Aunt Esther live now) Uncle Gust lived with Grandma then and he wanted me to sing to him. I don’t know whether it was his favorite song, or the only one I knew, but I would sing "Kiss me once, kiss me twice, & kiss me once again". That was the only person that ever wanted me to sing.

I also remember him buying me Orange Crush pop. I rarely had pop at home, so this was a real treat, he bought me as many orange crush’s as I wanted. To this day, I cannot drink ORANGE CRUSH."

Ted remembers spending the night at Uncle Gus’ and going to work at Grubers Grocery store in Ida the next morning.

William Leo and Alice (Brossia) Heiden

At the wedding, Alice wore a pink satin dress. Their attendants were Paul Brossia (Alice’s brother) and Dorothy (Heiden) Strzesinski. The reception was held at the home of Fred and Mary Brossia,  Alice’s mother and father. They lived near Bridge School at 7900 Dixon Road at the "Brossia Family Farm"

One of Uncle Bill’s birthdays (must have been September, 1 963) they had a hobo dinner and we went over there. My son, Wayne, celebrated his first birthday the day before (September 9) and Shirley talked me into letting Wayne have his own birthday cake. She said she would clean him up, so I let have her fun and Wayne didn’t disappoint her, he was cake from top to toe, but she cleaned him up.

Ted (Strzesinski) remembers Uncle Bill for the times he would go to the grain elevator with him and he always had to wash the side of the truck off before he got in because it was thick with the tobacco juice

Elsie (Heiden) Klatt

I remember visiting Aunt Elsie at their house in Monroe. I always thought how lucky they were to have so many brothers and sisters to play with. (Note: JoAnn was an only child.) 

Dorothy Martha Johanna (Heiden) Strzesinski

They lived in the old schoolhouse at 11411 Trost Rd in Ida. I remember how they fixed up the schoolhouse so you would never know it once was a school.

Esther Louise Marie (Heiden) Kehrer

Esther attended Bridge School and completed the 7th grade. Arithmetic was her favorite subject, and helped on the farm doing chores and helping in the house. She went to work at the Weis Factory for 25 cents an hour.

Their attendants were Edna and Harry Weaks. Esther wore a blue dress. In case you don’t know what a "belling" is, that is when all the newlywed’s friends and families surprise them by getting together and basically, making a lot of noise (ring bells, horns, pots & pans) and then they party. This is what everyone did for Norm & Esther at their place on W. Albain Rd. All Esther’s brothers and sisters came (even Grandma).

Ted remembers going to Aunt Esther’s and Uncle Norm’s and play cards and drink beer (that seems to be a favorite past-time with the whole family.

Norman Kehrer was the son of Frank and Lena (Larch) Kehrer. He was born on May 2, 1901 in Ida, MI. He was married to Melvina Soncrant on August 27, 1924. She died September 23, 1930. He had one daughter, Eileen (Mrs Hubert) Kreps of Ida. He was preceded in death by a son. Esther and Norman did not have any children.

Henry William Emory Heiden

The wedding attendants were Dorothy (Heiden) Strzesinski (Henie’s sister) and Ronald Spohr (Dorothy’s brother). Dorothy wore a long ivory satin gown, fitted tight until down around the knees where it flared out. It had a cute little bolero type jacket with big puffy sleeves. (I used to play dress up with it).

I think they had a reception at my Grandma’s house on N. County Line, where they lived until they died. My dad worked at the Monroe Paper Products, drove a big milk truck and picked up cans of milk from the local farmers and delivered the milk to the dairy (Michigan Milk Producers Assn (MMPA) in Adrian. Occasionally on "butter day" I would go with dad and help him deliver the pound packages of butter that his customers ordered from the dairy (Shirley and Nelda used to do this with Uncle Bill too).

Dad also, like Uncle Bill, drove a truck, delivering grain to the elevator

 for the local farmers, and finally his last job was working at the Dundee Feed Mill, where he worked until he died. Dad said he went through the 6th grade at Bridge School, but he could figure out how much grain was on his truck or how many bushels of corn the field would yield, faster than a computer could.

One of his favorite sayings was "I’ll hit you, I’ll hit you yet", but I never knew the origin until at Aunt Libbie’s 80th birthday, she told me the story of how she let his pigeons out of their cage and dad was so mad, he threatened her, "Libbie, Ill hit you, I’ll hit you yet."

One of Ted’s memories of Uncle Heinie is when he would go to the feed mill in Dundee (where Henry worked) and Henry showed Ted how to fill the bags with feed as it went through the grinder and came down the big funnel, put it through the gadget that sewed the bags shut, then told him to lift the bag and put it on the truck.

I don’t know who planned it, but someone planned a surprise birthday party for my mother (her birthday was in February). Uncle Bill, Aunt Alice and family were the first ones to arrive and the kids took off for the house. Uncle Bill was afraid they would "spill the beans" and tell Aunt Dorothy "Happy Birthday", so he was running to catch up with them and as he was stepping up to the porch (it was icy) his foot slipped out from under him and he fell on his face. All he ended up with was a bloody nose and probably a bruised ego. But that didn’t stop the party, Uncle Bill laid down on the couch, with a cold cloth over his nose. Everyone else arrived and mom had a great surprise birthday.

Libbie Agnes Lucille (Heiden, Frank) Murdock

Their attendants were Esther Heiden, Dorothy Spohr, Henry Wm Heiden and Ervin Heiden. Libbie wore a long white dress (it cost $9.00 from Klines in Monroe) and white shoes (borrowed from Esther). Esther wore a blue dress and the men all wore grey suits. Their reception was in the Grange Hall in Grape.

They had two children. Aunt Libbie and Uncle Les divorced in 1961 and he has since died. Libbie then married Sam Murdock on September 1, 1962 in Dundee with the Justice of the Peace officiating.

Out at Aunt Libbies, Ted and Sonny would get up early to do chores. They climbed down a ladder very quietly so no one would hear them.

Libbie remembers a Christmas when she was little and she sneaked down the stairs and saw Dorothy putting a doll buggy under the tree for her. She didn’t like side pork, so when they would have it for a meal, she would hide her side pork under the kitchen table. Gus would catch her at it. They had a big wooden table with good hiding places. One time, she let some of Henie’s doves (pigeons) out of their cage and he got really mad and he yelled "Libbie, I’ll hit you, I’ll hit you yet". That saying used to be a favorite joke at our house, but I never knew the story behind it.

Nelda Jean Billau (1934-2010)
Daughter of Wm Leo and Alice (Brossia) Heiden

I bought Shirley’s dress for my junior prom. It was strapless, light purple and I thought it was the most beautiful dress I had ever seen. Nelda wore a white wedding gown and the girls were in rainbow colors. Their best man broke his leg on a motorcycle the day of the wedding so Pete’s neightbor filled in at the last minute.

Their attendants were Shirley & Bud Bruechert, Marvin and Donna Heiden, and Naomi Billau. Linda Billau and Trudy Bruechert were Flower Girls, and Karen and Lorraine Heiden were Jr. Flower Girls. Best man was Bob Billau and the usher was Don Trapp. Nelda was born in Dundee and also lived in Ida and Deerfield. After Nelda and Pete married the moved to Temperance where they have lived for 39 years at 10161 Goff Rd., Temperance, Michigan

Beverly Ann Hammond (1946-2023)
 Daughter of Dorothy and Theodore Strzesinski

Beverly married Larry Hamond (2/6/42) on April 1 9, 1 969 at the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Ida. Their attendants were Sandy Rod, Maryann Strzesinski, Judy Mclish, Nancy Hess, Sheila Frank, Stan Hatter, Ted Strzesinski, Tom Powers, John Siefer, and Tom Strzesinski. Their reception was at the Ida Fire Hall. It turned out to be a nice day. Bev was gorgeous in a white, A-line dress with a train that was attached at the neckline with lace on the sleeves. Her bridesmaids were in empire waist dresses, each a different color. I remember this wedding too, Bev was radiant and Larry looked a little nervous, but it was a swell reception, with lots of food and drink. A typical date for Larry & Bev was going to the drive-in movies.

One of Bev’s memories was when she was a little child, going to stay at Uncle Norm & Aunt Esther’s farm. She had fun gathering the eggs and riding on the wagon filled with wheat and playing in the hay loft. When they were kids, they lived above Uncle Bob and Aunt Tillies bar in Ida, then they moved to a remodeled schoolhouse on Trost Rd in the country near Ida. After Bev and Larry married they lived in Howell, then Charlotte, then way out to Woodbridge, VA, and now they are back here in Howell at 3550 Byron Rd., Howell, Ml.