Obituary of Howard Charles Heinrich

Howard C. Heinrich, age 80, formerly of Nekoosa and Wisconsin Rapids, passed away Monday, September 29, 2014 at Saint Michael's Hospital in Stevens Point. Services will be at 11:00 A.M. on Thursday, October 2, 2014 at Herman-Taylor Funeral Home in Wisconsin Rapids. Visitation will be from 5:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. on Wednesday and from 10:00 A.M. until the time of services on Thursday at the funeral home. Howard was born January 9, 1934 in Chicago, Illinois to Reinhold and Marie (Vehlow) Heinrich. He served his country as a Seabee in the United States Navy Construction Battalion, building airfields in the Caribbean. After returning home from the Navy, Howard went to Iowa State University where he majored in education. Howard was quite the athlete and played football in the Navy and at Iowa State and tried out for the Chicago Bears. While in college at Iowa State, Howard met Helen Welzenbach and it was love at first sight. Howard and Helen married on June 10, 1956 in Luverne, MN and were blessed with five children and 58 years of marriage. Howard worked as plant manager for Johnson Electric Coil in Illinois. He and Helen also owned and operated a hardware store in Wonder Lake, Illinois. The couple's business ventures didn't stop there as they later sold the hardware business and moved to the Wisconsin Rapids area where Howard worked as an Industrial Arts teacher at Nekoosa Middle School while he and Helen owned and operated the Moccasin Mobile Home Park. Howard had a vision for a nice senior mobile home park in the Wisconsin Rapids area and that vision was realized when he and Helen developed the PIRCO Park in the town of Saratoga. For the past 17 years, he and Helen have been residents of Mission, Texas while spending summers at their home in Stevens Point, WI. Howard was a people person and made friends easily. He loved his family and enjoyed camping, rides up and down the river on the pontoon boat, and traveling in his motor home. He also enjoyed woodworking, painting, reading, and was an excellent Bridge player. Howard is survived by his loving wife, Helen; five children: Lisa (Scott) Drummond of Baraboo, WI, Mary (Kent) Brauninger of Kansas City, MO, Ward (Cindy) Heinrich of Seattle, WA, Amy McCallum of Phoenix, AZ, and Neil (Chrystal) Heinrich of Stevens Point , WI; seventeen grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; two brothers: Reinhold (Dorothy) Heinrich of Peotone, IL and William (Lorraine) Heinrich of Grays Lake, IL; and one sister, Kathleen Goebel of Owings Mills, MD. He was preceded in death by his parents, one brother, Robert Heinrich, and one sister, Marilyn Brandt. Due to a serious health condition the family has requested that attendees of the services please refrain from wearing any perfume or cologne.