Submitted by: Dan Rich

Phyllis Jean Heckaman

March 2, 1927 - Nov. 25, 2006

South Bend Tribune 11/28/2006

On March 2nd, 1927 the Angels brought into this world a beautiful baby and delivered her to Granville and Blanche (Secrest) Housand. And they gave their new daughter the name of Phyllis Jean. Growing up, Phyllis being somewhat of a tom-boy, her father often called her “Bill Jack”. She attended Beiger School where she played softball. It was said that she was the only girl on the team (Go Girl !!). After Mishawaka High, she became a member of Epsilon Sigma Alpha Sorority.
She worked at the ever-popular Melrose Confectionery (sweets & ice-cream) Parlor in downtown Mishawaka. This is where she met and had “the sweets” for a certain regular patron, a young Mishawaka man called Jimmie Wilbur.

And on January 27, 1945 Phyllis married James Wilbur Heckaman, a union lasting over 61 years with a family of five children, 15 grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.

While employed at Ball Band/Uniroyal over a decade, Phyllis participated in the volleyball and bowling leagues. She also worked at St. Joseph Hospital and later after retirement age, Hardees's Mishawaka restaurant. She loved and cherished her grandchildren. She enjoyed Elizabeth Barrett Browning poems and was an avid reader of Danielle Steel novels. She liked bird watching and in her later years had fun feeding geese that gathered near her home.

At Our Lady of Peace Hospital, Phyllis spent her last worldly days with her family at her side providing comfort. At 12:04 am on November 25, 2006 her Angels came to take her home to the Heavenly Father. Revelations 21.4: “There will be no more suffering, crying or pain. These things of the past are gone forever.”

She will be missed very much and memories of her are cherished by her husband; four daughters: Sherry Ann (Robert) Harke of South Bend, Jimmie Christine (Perry) Scripter of Mishawaka, Jaquenette Lynn Siciliano and husband Richard Akinson of Ft. Myers, Florida, Josette Maree (Robert) Shannon; son, Ralph Gregory Heckaman, both of Mishawaka; 15 grandchildren; nine great grandchildren; four sisters: Wanda (Ken) Cowen, Hope Gill, Patricia (Charles) Van Camp, Thelma “Toots” (Robert) Costinett; brother, Silver Dollar “Buck” (Marlene) Housand and sister-in-law, Ida Housand, all of Mishawaka. She was preceded in death by her parents, a brother, Raymond Housand, and a brother-in-law, Edward “June” Gill, Sr. There are no endings, only new beginnings. Phyllis's life did not end; it is the beginning of her eternal life in heaven.

Visitation will be Wed. 5 to 8 p.m., and 9 to 11 a.m. Thurs. at Hahn Funeral Home, 505 W. 8th St., Mishawaka. Services begin at 11 a.m. Thurs. Nov. 30th in the funeral home with Rev. Terry Fisher officiating and Charles Strantz delivering the eulogy. Burial will follow at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens, Osceola. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society.