Karen D. Heck

Karen D. Heck age 70, of Zephyrhills, FL formerly of Pigeon died unexpectedly Wednesday evening, January 4, after spending the day doing something she loved; going to Seminole and playing bingo with her good friend Gloria.

She was born March 18, 1941 in Flint to the late William and Dorothy (Wolford) Snyder. She spent her childhood between the U.P. and Midland where she graduated from Midland Dow High School in 1959.

On November 5, 1960, she was united in marriage to Harold A. Heck (whom she met through her uncle, Ed Wolford, the football coach) at Salem Evangelical United Brethren Church, Pigeon. She was a former member of Salem United Methodist Church, Pigeon.
Karen had been employed at Scheurer Hospital in Pigeon, first as a nurse’s aide and then after receiving her degree from St Clair County Community College worked as an LPN until retiring with 22 years of service.

She and Harold traveled extensively after raising their family and moved permanently to their winter home Zephyrhills in 2005. Karen was an avid bingo player, loved traveling with Harold and always enjoyed having her family and friends around her. She also enjoyed reading, puzzles, magnolias, lilacs, music and the movies Dirty Dancing and especially, Gone with the Wind, collecting memorabilia. She had been president of the Laker Athletic Booster in the early 80’s, had a perfect driving record, was a fantastic cook and could fillet a fish in record time.

She will be missed terribly by her friends and her husband, Harold; three children, Aaron (Cathy) Heck of North Branch, Lynn Heck of Zephyrhills and Chris (Bernadette) Heck of Pigeon; one “adopted”, Lyn “Katie” Castle of Zephyrhills; grandchildren, Jessica, Amanda, Kristina, Sarah and Jacob; great grandchildren, Kaitlyn, Caleb and Cavan; her sister, Kathy Belleau of Avon Lake, OH her mother-in-law, Lila Heck of Pigeon; sister-n-law, Liz (Jim) Thayer of West Oliver and brothers-in-law, Carl (Marla) Heck of Pigeon and Ray (Sandy) Zottneck.
A memorial service was celebrated on Monday, January 9, at 1:00 pm at the Palm View Gardens hall, Zephyrhills.
A graveside memorial service at Grandlawn Cemetery, Pigeon will take place 11:00 AM, June 16, where she will be laid to rest next to her infant daughter, Lori Ann, who passed away in 1961.

Memorials may be directed to Salem United Methodist Church, Relay for Life or the American Heart Assn.
Words of condolence may be shared at www.champagnefuneralchapel.com.