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Pictures Paul and Rose Heckel Family
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Paul and Rose 07/36/1936 |
Paul and Rose Heckel moved from Mansfield, Ohio in 1955. They moved to 3100 Eudora. They owned and operated Colorado Knitting Mills located on Colfax and Speer. Paul served as a lay minister for the Apostolic Christian Church in Denver.
Paul Heckel was born on September 13,
1909 in Mansfield, Ohio. Paul had five brothers, Mike Heckel, Joe Heckel, John
Heckel, Bill Heckel, and Andy Heckel, and nine sisters, Christine (Heckel)
Gerhardt, Sue (Heckel) Lamnek, Dorothy Heckel, Elizabeth (Betty Heckel)
Ardelyn, Julia (Heckel) Stammler, Helen (Heckel) Purity, Lydia (Heckel) Davis,
Martha (Heckel) Pohanka, and Mary Heckel who died at birth.
His father, Michael Heckel was born on June 5, 1875 in Kovacica Banat,
Austria-Hungary. His mother, Christine Mueller Heckel was born on
November 4, 1881 in Franzfeld Banat, Austria-Hungary. They were married
on June 20, 1902 in Franzfeld Banat, Austria-Hungary. They came to the United
States on their honeymoon. They settled on a farm on Amoy road, just
north of Mansfield, Ohio. Paul was the fifth child, being on of the
older ones and the second son, he helped his father with the farm. One
of the stories that he loved to tell was about the time when all the children
were playing in the kitchen. The cat kept getting stepped on, so to keep
from hurting the cat they put it in the cold wood stove. They forgot
about the cat and when their mom came home, she lit the stove to start dinner.
With 14 children they didn’t hear the cat. Mom Heckel smelled something
burning. When the children found out about their cat, they all when into
separate rooms and cried and cried. Another story was when mom and dad
Heckel went to town, the older boys climbed onto the roof to play.
Somehow while they were playing they knocked the old chimney down. They
were scared and didn’t know what dad Heckel would do when he found out.
By the time mom and dad Heckel came home from town it was dark. During
the night a thunderstorm passed through. The next morning dad Heckel
went outside and saw the chimney. He called out the children and told
them to look what the storm had done, and that they would have to get it
fixed. The children said “Oh look what the storm did!” No one ever
told what really happened. The last story was when they got their first
car. Paul was the first to try it out. He told his brothers to
open the gate. They asked why? Paul said for when they get to the
gate in case he couldn’t stop. They assured him it would be no problem.
So off they went, and when they got to the gate, Paul stepped on the gas
instead of the brake. Paul was raised in a Christian home and gave his life to
the Lord at an early age. He loved photography, camping, and traveling,
but when he met Rose Keller all that changed. Wow was she beautiful.
Paul thought of her often. When her family moved to Mansfield Paul knew
this was the girl God wanted him to marry. They were married on July 26,
1936.
Rose (Keller) Heckel was born on June 21, 1911 in West Hoboken, N.J. (later
renamed Union City). Rose had seven brothers, Henry Keller, William
Keller (died at 4 mo. of age), William Keller (named after his brother that
died), Ernest Keller, Arnold Keller, Charles Keller (died at birth) and
Charles Keller (also named after another brother that died) and two sisters,
Elsie (Keller) Kinkel, Edna (Keller) Bechtel.
Her father, Henry Keller was a pastor, and
her mother, Elsie Keller was a devoted wife and mother. Their household
was dedicated in serving the Lord and the children were brought up likewise.
Because of this Rose gave her life to the Lord at the age of 15 and was
baptized.
Rose was around 19 when she first met Paul
Heckel from Mansfield, OH, who was visiting their church in West Hoboken, NJ.
She was very impressed at how friendly he was. As circumstances would
have it, the Keller family moved to Mansfield, OH two years later. Rose
was 21, when she saw Paul Heckel again. They soon became friends
and on May 16, 1936, Paul purposed marriage to Rose and without hesitation,
she accepted. The happy couple was never apart, they even worked
together at the North American Knitting Company, where Paul was supervisor of
the knitting area and Rose was supervisor of the seamstresses. On July
26, 1936 they were married at the Christian Apostolic Church. They had
their reception at the Heckel farm where over 400 people attended. Paul,
in addition to working at the knitting mill, also preached once a month at the
Christian Apostolic Church, later renamed Apostolic Christian Church.
They were blessed with three children.
Robert Paul was born November 2, 1938. Kenneth Eugene was born September
10, 1941. Paulette Rose was born on Sept. 6, 1946. In the early 1950’s,
Paulette became very sick and was diagnosed with Rheumatic fever. After
a year of being in and out of the hospital, the doctor said Paulette wouldn’t
survive another year unless a move was made to a dryer climate. They
considered both Phoenix and Denver. Denver was decided upon because Paul
had a sister (Helen Puraty) who lived there. The family moved to Denver
on July 10, 1954. They opened up a knitting mill and store on west
Colfax Avenue. It was named Colorado Knitting Mill. They knitted
school letter sweaters, ski sweaters and ski caps. Paul and Rose worked
along side one another to get the business off the ground. Paul preached
at the Apostolic Christian Church every Sunday night in German for those
members who couldn't speak English, and preached Sunday mornings when they
needed a substitute.
In the early 1960’s, Paul was asked to help
start a new church in Englewood, CO to begin a new ministry. In April of
1962 they moved into a new home in Englewood they helped build. By this
time Robert was married, so only Kenneth and Paulette made the move with them.
In 1963 Kenneth married and in 1967 Paulette married. Paul and Rose
where again alone to enjoy the company of one another. But after a few
years the house seemed big and empty. They missed Kenneth and his family
who now lived in California so they decided to move to California but Rose had
trouble with allergies so they moved back to Denver.
Paul and Rose had 36 wonderful years
together, they dedicated their lives to the work of the Lord. On January
5, 1972, the Lord took Paul home to be with him in Heaven. A few years
after the death of her husband, Rose moved to Elizabeth, CO to again help
start up another new church. She lived there for about five years
serving the Lord by doing what ever was needed. She felt she was
too far away from her grandchildren and missed them terribly. So she
moved back to the Denver area. Eventually Rose made her home in
Littleton at a senior citizen apartment building, Amity Plaza. Rose made
a lot of friends. She attended a bible study once a week, played pool
and once a week, she and several of her friends got together to play Canasta.
She always made chicken soup for her friends when they were sick. Every
Sunday she drove a carload of friends to her church, Littleton Bible Chapel.
In August 1994 Rose had colon surgery. The surgery was extensive so she went to Paulette's home to recuperate, but instead of getting better, she kept getting worse. In December of 1994 she told her daughter she didn't think she could ever go back to her home in Littleton. She also told Paulette she didn't want her to give up school to take care of her, and if there was a nice care home close to Paulette's home that she could go and live, she would be happy with such an arrangement. In January 1995 Rose moved to Mapleton Manor in Lakewood. She participated in almost every activity available at Mapleton and again made many friends. Her life was an inspiration to her children, children-in-law, grandchildren, great grandchildren and all with whom she had contact. Rose gave her life to Christ at an early age and lived as a loving, Godly woman her entire life.
On December 15, 1998, Rose was reunited with
her beloved husband Paul, to be together throughout eternity in the peace and
love of God. Paul and Rose are laid to rest at Eastlawn Memorial Gardens, in
the Garden of Devotion.