John Heiskala

John Richard Heiskala, aged 83, of Travelers Rest, South Carolina, passed away on January 24, 2017, after spending several weeks in the hospital following a severe car accident. John was born April 17, 1933, in Kingford, Michigan. He graduated from Edward J. Kingsford High School in 1951, and continued his education at the Michigan College of Mining and Technology, graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1956. He served in the Michigan National Guard and was a veteran of the U.S. Navy. He was married to Ruth (Owens) from 1958 until her death in early 1962. He later married Elsie (Pankhurst) in June of 1963 and they celebrated 46 years together before she passed away in 2009.
John held a variety of jobs during his lifetime, from picking cherries during his teen years, to working on the Mackinaw Bridge as it was being built, and then to employment related to his college degree. Through the late 1960s – 1980, he worked at Commonwealth Associates in Jackson, Michigan. Growing tired of the cold, snowy winters, John took his family south to North Carolina and then on to Texas, working as a piping designer for nuclear power plants. He retired in 1996 and, along with Elsie and two of his children, moved to Travelers Rest, South Carolina. He was a faithful member of The Gideons International for the majority of his adult years, and during that time handed out many, many Bibles.
Throughout his retirement, John continued his lifetime hobby of working on cars, as well as chopping numerous cords of word, and hiking with his dogs. He is predeceased by his wife Elsie, and his sons Joseph and Matthew. He is survived by his son Daniel “Choo,” his daughters Janele (Parsons) and Kristi (Godfrey), and his five grandchildren.