Mary Edith Heman

Mary Edith Heman, 70, of Carroll died Monday, Dec. 22, 2008, at her home following a five-month battle with gallbladder cancer. Mass of the Christian burial will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 27, at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Carroll with the Rev. Timothy Schott presiding. Lectors will be Robyn Leon and Mitchell Bro. Gift bearers will be Mrs. Heman’s 12 grandchildren. Eucharistic minister will be Lorraine Danner. Servers will be Colin and Colby Vetter. Casket bearers will be nephews: Mark Brumbaugh, Bob Nair, David Heuton, Bob Miller, Keith Jensen and Leonard Feilmeier Jr. Honorary casket bearers will be Deb Mathany, Alberta Meiners, Leona Schmitz, Chris Pietig, Bonnie Vogt, LuAnn Tigges, Faye Irlbeck, Florine Nielsen, Jane Peter, Deb Riesberg, Rhonda Crosen, Tammy Sheed, Lee Frasier and other co-workers and clients from New Hope Village. Burial will be Saturday afternoon in St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery at Dedham. Visitation starts at 2:30 p.m. and the Templeton Catholic Daughters will lead a rosary at 3 p.m. Friday at Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in Carroll. St. Lawrence Parish will hold a Christian wake service at 6:30 p.m. Friday at the funeral home. The family suggests memorial contributions to New Hope Village of Carroll in lieu of flowers. Contributions can be left at the funeral home or church. The Catholic Daughters will form an honor guard at the church. A daughter of Merlin and Emma (Seidl) Nair, she was born May 8, 1938, on a farm north of Bayard. Her twin sister, Mary Ann, died shortly after birth. She spent her childhood and attended schools in the Scranton, Lidderdale, Willey and Ralston areas. The family moved to Dedham in 1949. She graduated from St. Joseph Grade School at Dedham, attended Carroll High School one year and graduated from Kuemper Catholic High School in Carroll in 1957. She and Henry Heman Jr. were married May 5, 1959, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Dedham with the Rev. Leo Lenz officiating. They settled in Carroll. Mrs. Heman worked at the Ocoma Foods turkey-processing plant in Carroll from 1957 to 1959 then raised her six children and was a homemaker. The family moved to Dedham in June 1968. She worked at Kitt’s Meat Processing in Dedham from 1978 to 1983 then provided child care in her home for the Willenborg, Schultes and Grossman families until 1990. The Hemans hosted four foreign-exchange students in the 1980s. Mrs. Heman went to work at New Hope Village in Carroll in 1990 and spent the last six years working part-time in NHV group homes. She was recently named New Hope’s employee of the year for 2008. The Hemans moved to Carroll in July 1996. She was a member and Eucharistic minister at St. Lawrence Parish; a 40-year member of Court Sacred Heart No. 454 of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas at Templeton and a former member of St. Joseph Parish and Ladies Guild. She directed kitchen bands for the Dedham Centennial in 1983 and the St. Joseph Parish Centennial in 1992. She enjoyed raising flowers and plants, especially cacti; cross-stitching and other crafts; traveling, having visited all 48 contiguous states and taking frequent trips to Branson, Mo., and to polka shows with her husband; polka and country music and “Little House on the Prairie”; and collecting angels, bells and state quarters. Survivors include her husband, Henry, of Carroll; six children and their spouses: Mary Jo and Michael Bro of Bedford, Texas, Paula and Mike Davis of Coon Rapids, Wanda and Rodney Tucker of Huxley, Annette and Dave Nees of Dedham, Henry “Butch” Heman of Dedham and Kris and Larry Gross of Ames; a guardian son, Mike Christensen, of Carroll; 12 grandchildren: Melissa and Mitchell Bro; Courtney and Michaela Davis; Andrew and Leah Tucker; Amanda, Rachel and Ryan Nees; and Kaitlyn, Tyler and Alex Gross; two sisters and their husbands: Marcia and Leonard Feilmeier of Glidden and Ruth and Larry Jensen of Imperial, Mo.; a brother, Robert Nair, and his wife, JoAnn, of Des Moines; four sisters-in-law: Lois Testroet and husband Ken of Lake View, Anita and Joe Brumbaugh of Omaha, Neb., Bonita Heuton of Carroll and Barb Heman of Ralston; and a brother-in-law, Robert Moore, of Carroll. Mrs. Heman was preceded in death by her parents; her twin sister, Mary Ann, at birth; three brothers-in-law: Clifford Heman and wife Doris, Wendell Heuton and Ron Heman; and three sisters-in-law: Mary Miller and husband Joe, Ardella Moore and Charlotte Heman.