NEWELL—Family and friends traveled near and far, some by air and some by car, but they all traveled to celebrate a man who means a great deal to them on a very special day. Some call him Dad, some call him brother, husband or grandpa and others call him friend or neighbor, but to them all, it seems, he is a special person.
You see, the long-time Newellite, John Heisler, turned 80 years old, and judging by the crowd at the NVN Center on July 5, he has touched a lot of lives over the years.
There was a lot of behind-the-scenes planning, and although it started as a surprise, John said, “I kind of figured it out!”
His wife of 35 years, Judy, explained, “We had to tell him, because you can’t keep anything a secret from him!”
The coordination of getting John’s three sisters, one brother and his five children and nine grandchildren plus all of their families to Newell took quite the effort. “Lots of family came in, it took a lot of planning,” explained Judy. “The son (John) flew the granddaughter in from Nashville, he rented cars for Colleen—a special vehicle for her to come down from Aberdeen and the two grandsons to drive her down, and then he rented a car for the nurse—she’s the one that was taking care of Colleen, and he rented a car for her to come up from Denver.”
There was an abundance of food for everyone to enjoy. “I catered all of it—I’m tired, I’m done, it’s my last catering job! I’m going out with a bang,” said Judy.
Everyone gathered to sing happy birthday to John and watch him blow out his candles. He shared his spotlight with his nephew’s wife, Annie Mueller, who turned 69 on the same day.
The Heislers came to town about 30 years ago, and it was kind of by accident, not by plan, but they have made the most of it since arriving. “Well, I had a friend that retired before I did, and he had a nice place down by Hermosa, and I said, well, I knew that my time was coming with the company, so I said watch for a place for me,” explained John. “He gave my name to a realtor. . . I wanted to live down where he did, in that area west of Hermosa, towards Keystone—it’s really not as warm in the summer and not as cold in the winter . . . She sent us videos on a couple places and pictures and we looked at this (Newell home). I didn’t like the other places. We liked this—the price was right!”
John stays involved and active in the small town. Even though he is retired, he continues to work and volunteer. “I will be the president now of the Lions Club, and I kind of ran the Belle Fourche Irrigation District for almost 20 years,” he shared. He remains active in the workforce as he drives a school bus for the Newell School District.
As for turning another year older, well he has that all figured out too! “Well, I read up on it and it said, if you have good balance and can walk good, you’ll live long, but if you reach 80 and you lost your balance and can’t walk around very well—you’re short-lived,” said John with a chuckle. He stays active and still has a few cows to take care of each day on the ranch.
See more pictures and read the full issue of the Belle Fourche Beacon by clicking here.
