The Heiden Family History Homepage - Heiden Family of Monroe County, Michigan- Includes Rambow, Milhan, Roggerman, Getty, Knaack and Laas Families

Wilma Bicking

Mildred Heiden

Jeannie Heiden

Ralph Heiden

Helma Nickel

Mary Lou Opfermann

Marie Tommelein

Brick Tommelein

Listed below are excerpts from transcriptions of audio tapes of two meetings with different combinations of the people shown here. They occurred on May 28 and September 25, 1995. For the entire script, Click Here.

Wilma, Jeannie, Wm, Helma and Marie were children of Wm Carl Heiden
Mildred was married to Arthur Heiden and was mother of Ralph Heiden
Helen was wife of Wm Frank and they were parents of Dianne
Pat was daughter of Wilma Bicking
Mary Lou is daughter of Leo and Lucille Heiden
Ralph, Dianne, Pat and Mary Lou were first cousins

Bridge School

Gifts from Mr Wakefield

House East on Dixon Road



Ralph Heiden - What do you remember about going to Bridge School? Marie (Heiden) Tommelein - I had Kenneth Bordine the first year I went there and then Harrison Dentel the rest of the way. William Frank Heiden - We had fifty some kids all together in one room. He would teach one grade at a time. But I really don’t remember much about my childhood. Helen (Henning) Heiden - Seems funny he doesn’t to remember any of his childhood about going to school and stuff. Brick Tommelein - I agree with William, I just remember a few bits and pieces here and there but not that much. William Frank Heiden - I remember Fritz Milhan hit me in the head with a ball bat. We would play toss up and he swung and got me good. I didn’t have to go to school for about 3 months! Ralph Heiden - I have a scar underneath my chin. The teacher used to ring a bell at the end of recess and I was standing too close and she popped me right under the chin. William Frank Heiden - You should have sued them for that, Ha!


William Frank Heiden - There was another small house down the road on the east end of the Wakefield farm and that is where Mary Lou was born. They had that little house for the guy who worked the farm to live in. Wakefield lived where Jesse Barnes lived and they didn’t want to work the farm. Old man Wakefield gave me a cow on the condition that I would give them some of the milk. I used to take over a couple of quarts a day to them. When Wakefield died, he gave me a gold watch and he left Art a horse and buggy. Marie (Heiden) Tommelein - That was a nice watch. William Frank Heiden - Here it is. I still have it. Brick Tommelein - Does it run, William? William Frank Heiden - Yes we had the movement replaced. It’s got a porcelain dial. Helen (Henning) Heiden - We took it down to a jeweler to see how much it might be worth in case somebody might break in and take it. They told us it’s not pure gold because it wears off over time. William Frank Heiden - I’ve had it seventy years and I rarely carry it in my pocket yet it’s all worn off. Old Wakefield must have carried it for a long time before he died. Brick Tommelein - Some of those old railroad watches used to be worth something. Ralph Heiden - Why did Mr. Wakefield leave things to you boys? William Frank Heiden - Well, we always waited on him and did things for him all the time. Brick Tommelein - Mil, was that when Art started courting you when he had that buggy? Mildred (Roggerman) Heiden - No, he had an old Model T Ford by the time we starting going out. Marie (Heiden) Tommelein - Remember we used to play tricks on old Wakefield? It was after we got a telephone. When Ma and Pa would be gone, we would watch to see when he was outside and then we’d call him up. As soon as he got in the house, we’d hang up. Later he would tell Pa, “Somebody kept calling me all day today. By the time I got there, they’d hang up!” Ralph Heiden - I didn’t think you guys did that kind of stuff. Marie (Heiden) Tommelein - Oh, yes we did but Pa never knew it.


Mary Lou (Heiden) Opfermann - What kind of house was the one that I was born in? It has been gone for a long time now. William Frank Heiden - It was a nice enough house. I think it had one bedroom upstairs. That was where Billy Miller and what’s her name lived. Marie (Heiden) Tommelein - Helen MacDowell. He married that woman with a little girl and we used to go to school together. William Frank Heiden - We used to go sparrow hunting with him back when there was a bounty on sparrows. He used to put the dead sparrows in his pockets and he’d go to divide them up and we’d sneak into his other pocket and take one out while he wasn’t looking. Marie (Heiden) Tommelein - I used to hold the flashlight for Art and Heinie Heiden when they would go after sparrows at night. They got 2 cents a piece and I never got anything! William Frank Heiden - I used to go into that house a lot of times. There was a barn across the road on the south side. They had a corn crib and chicken coop on the north side where the house was. The red garage out in our drive came from that house when they tore it down. The beams and things came from that old house.