John Heddle:
CLASS OF 1963
St. Louis Park High SchoolClass of 1963
St. louis park, MN
Marshfield High SchoolClass of 1975
Coos bay, OR
Regina High SchoolClass of 1963
Minneapolis, MN
John's Story
Life
John Heddle graduated from St. Louis Park High School in 1963. He joined the Navy later that summer, knowing full well that if he attempted college right after high school, he would last no more than 20 minutes.
In the Navy he was stationed aboard a seagoing tug boat, (yup, they have um) the USS Nipmuc. He saw action in the Âbig one the Dominican Republic in April of 1965. While showing a movie on the back of the ship, a rebel (deranged film critic?) shot at the projector, twice. Luckily John survived, or this story would end here.
After being discharged, John started college in the Fall of 1967. He attended Winona State College. While attending Winona State, he majored in Theatre and minored in Political Science (hey, it WAS the Â60Âs). John was active in college and community theatre productions as an actor and stage hand. He also worked in Democratic Party and antiwar politics. While attending a College Democrats meeting he met Barb Broecker. After a tumultuous courtship, John and Barb got married on August 1st. of 1970. John graduated from Winona State in June of 1972. He and Barb decided to move West to seek their fortune . . . They didnÂt find it.
John and Barb took teaching jobs in Coos Bay Oregon. After three years they decided they had enough of the constant rain and moved to Spokane Washington. Barb found a teaching job right away in Spokane. John went to grad school at Whitworth College and received his Maste...Expand for more
rs of Communications Degree in the Summer of 1977. In the Summer of 1978, they were homesick enough to give-up on western living, and head back to Minnesota.
Back in Winona, John took a sales job and Barb went back to Winona State to work on her Masters. Barb started teaching special education in the Winona area and John spent the next 25 years alternating between working in sales /marketing and teaching. (ok, so I still didnÂt know what I wanted to be when I grew up) He taught at The College of St. Teresa until it closed in 1989 and also did gigs at Winona State and S.E. Minnesota Tech. From 1991 until 2003 he worked in media. First selling advertising for the Winona Daily News, and then for Big River Magazine.
In 1980 John trained for and joined the National Ski Patrol. He worked with the Coffee Mill (Wabasha, MN) ski patrol until 2003. He did first aid training and ski skills training and testing for Coffee Mill and other ski areas in Minnesota.
Barb Heddle fought a 33 year battle with Juvenile Diabetes, and by 2003 her health was such that she could no longer work. Because she needed regular daily care, John retired and became a full-time care giver. Barb lost her battle with Diabetes in December of 2006, she passed 4 days before Christmas.
Newly widowed, John is back to the old question . . . What should he do when he grows up? For now he is doing some traveling. John is beginning to see retirement as a viable career option.
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