Mary Pat Heller

Jun 15, 1926 -

Jan 25, 2021

Mary Pat was born the oldest of four children to Bernard and Elizabeth Immenschuh in St. Mary's, Kan., on June 15, 1926. She passed away peacefully on Jan. 25, 2021. Mary Pat loved life and had many interests. She was a social butterfly and made friends easily. Music was a big part of her life. She had a beautiful voice and loved to sing. She played the piano and saxophone. She also had a fondness for travel and later in life, she and her husband would travel the globe. Telling stories of growing up on a dairy farm gave her great joy and delighted all those listening. She and her mother were the quintessential women of their day. They did the cooking, cleaning, sewing, milking of cows, gathering of eggs and taking good care of the men who did the heavy lifting of running a farm. They were hard-working people who were also kind, generous and humble without an enemy in the world. Once a month her daddy would attend a meeting in a nearby town. As a treat, mamma and the kids would go along and go to a movie and if there was enough money they would all enjoy a hamburger. On the way home all four kids would lay down in the back of the pickup truck and marvel at the stars. When WWII, broke out most of the men went to war so the women took over the jobs left vacant. At 18, and fresh out of high school, she took over as teacher and taught school for grades 1-12 in a one-room schoolhouse. She would ride her horse to school, start the wood burning stove and teach all the children in the surrounding area, including all three of her brothers, who had now become her students. After the war she went to an all-girls college and earned her degree in education. At a dance she attended she met the love of her life, Ted Heller, who attended an all-boys college nearby. She didn't have a dress to wear so she sewed one out of some old curtains - sounds straight out of the movie Gone with the Wind. They married in 1949, and together they embarked on a remarkable life. Ted re-enlisted in the Air Force and they traveled wherever the military sent them. She taught her city-boy husband how to drive. He never needed to drive in the city and she would often say how unlikely a farm-girl from Kansas and a city-boy from New York could find such happiness together. Mary Pat stayed at home and raised their four children until all were in school. She then started teaching and was a favorite of many of her students. She would get Christmas cards from some of them for decades. She was an innovative teacher and would go the extra mile. She put an emphasis on music and would have animals in the classroom which made a lot of children ask to be in her class. She was looked up to by her colleagues and became a mentor to many. She worked hard all her life. She would come home from teaching all day and as she walked in the door she would don her apron and start cooking supper. After supper and tending to her children's needs, she would grade papers late into the night. Being a teacher left her summers open so the family would go on month-long vacations and drive to a National Park somewhere in the U.S. Mary Pat was the consummate, ever-faithful wife and mother. Her husband became bedbound during the last years of his life and she was always there by his bedside. They were married for 67 years.

She loved her family and her country. She was a true patriot and is a hallowed member of The Greatest Generation. She was a spiritual woman who cherished her faith and was a devout Catholic. Anyone who needed help would ask her to say prayers for them because she had a direct line. She had such a lovely face, was kind to all, generous to a fault and her sweet nature was genuine. She is remembered this way and beloved by her family and friends. Mary Pat was predeceased by her husband, Ted; parents, Bernard and Elizabeth; brothers, Tommy, Roy and Dutch; son, Teddy Jr.; and daughter, Aimee Elizabeth Francis. She is survived by her son, Bruce; daughter, "Patsy"; sons-in-law, Ted and Jeff; daughter-in-law, Yong Chu; grandchildren, Nicholas, Alexander, Isaac, Phillip, Natasha, Chris, Anthony, Thomas; and countless nephews, nieces and great-grandchildren.

A Mass will be said at 12:15 p.m. and a celebration of life from 1:30-4 p.m. will be held at St. Nicholas of Myra Byzantine Catholic Church, 2200 Arctic Blvd, on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021. Mary Pat will be buried with her husband this summer on June 15, 2021, at the National Cemetery on Ft. Richardson. Those wishing to attend will gather outside the Ft. Richardson/Arctic Valley gate at 12:30 p.m. As a group, all present at that time will be escorted to the gravesite.