Louise Heidler

Louise Wall Heidler passed away peacefully on June 7, 2018. She was born on July 28, 1921, and grew up in Clearfield County, central Pennsylvania, the middle daughter of Wilbur and Bernice Wall. She graduated from Curwensville High School in 1939, and went on to get degrees from Millersville State (1943) and the University of Michigan (1951). She loved school and academics, and chose a career as a librarian and teacher. She took her first teaching/librarian position in Johnstown, and shortly after that she moved on to York, PA. There she met Joe Heidler, five years her junior but soon to become her husband. First she spent a year teaching at a US Military dependents’ school in Germany, a chance to see Europe in the aftermath of WWII. She returned to the US in 1952; the next year she and Joe married and started a life and family in the Cincinnati/Butler County area. They had two sons: Bill, born in 1954, and Eric, born in 1957 with Down Syndrome. From that time on, Louise had another mission in life: to find ways to provide care for and enrich the lives of her son and others with developmental disabilities. Louise spent the late 1950’s at home taking care of her young sons, but she wanted to get back to her profession and so in 1961 took a job teaching at New Miami High School. A year later a librarian position opened up at Miami University in Oxford, and she began her twenty-five year association with that institution. During a period when libraries were changing rapidly, she started as a cataloguer and moved on to become Head Librarian at the Hamilton campus of Miami, and eventually a Professor of Educational Media. Meanwhile, the approaches to and resources available for care of persons with developmental disabilities also changed significantly. Eric started out learning in church basements, but due to the efforts of parents and the community, many improvements were achieved--in 1973 the Fair Acres school facility was built, and through successive periods, many other facilities and programs were implemented. Louise got involved with what was first known as the Council for Retarded Citizens, which morphed into the ARC of today; she also served on county-level agencies in Butler County (BCMRDD/169 Board). For her work with the MRDD, she received a Mother of the Year award from Gov. James Rhodes. As the boys got older, Bill moved away, first to college then to a job in California. Louise was not happy to see him go so far away, but she and Joe began to enjoy visits to the west coast and to the nearby national parks. They made several hiking trips in Sequoia National Park, which was probably their favorite. They also made a number of trips to Europe together—Joe was a Spanish teacher and would attend language immersion programs, while Louise would enjoy tours of Spain and nearby countries. They met some of their closest friends during these trips, and during activities that involved other cultural exchanges. Louise retired from Miami in 1987. After living nearly 40 years in Hamilton, Ohio, in 1997 they moved a little ways up the road to Mt Pleasant Retirement Village in Monroe. There they continued to enjoy social and travel activities, and visits with their grandsons and other relatives and friends. Louise had Alzheimer’s in her later years. In 2016 she, Joe and Eric moved to Vista, CA to be near her son Bill. She leaves her sister Pauline in Vermont, and Pauline’s sons Roger, Paul, and Ralph and their families; as well as Bill, his wife Pam, and grandsons Matt, Eric and Pete. She was preceded in death by her sister Ginelle, as well as by husband Joe and son Eric. Private services will be observed at the convenience of the family. THE WEBSTER FUNERAL HOME 3080 Homeward Way at Rt. 4, Fairfield is serving the family. www.websterfuneralhomes.com