Patricia Ruth Heyn

Patricia Grover Heyn, 92, of Saint Joseph, died Sunday, November 22, 2015, at Pine Ridge Nursing Rehabilitation Center and Nursing Home in Lincoln Township. Pat was born September 2, 1923, in Baroda to Dr. Harry W. Grover and Mildred Ruth [Kenney] Grover, delivered by her father in her grandparents’ bed.  Before she was three, her father died of tuberculosis; her mother found work in Chicago, and left her in her grandparents’ care.  To the end of her life, Pat spoke of and wrote about the kindness and generosity of village neighbors who made her survival possible. When Pat was twelve, her mother married Dr. Porter, and the family moved to Bridgman, where Pat graduated from high school in 1941.  Her mother was widowed again, but was determined to give her only child an education, and worked to send her first to Western Michigan University, and then the University of Michigan, where she graduated in 1945.  She was always proud of this accomplishment, particularly as she attended during World War II; she felt she helped sustain civilization, even in a small way, at a time when it was greatly threatened. After graduating, she wrote for the Michigan State Department of Public Health in Lansing, and then for the Herald-Press in St. Joseph.  She married her high-school classmate Ronald “Jim” Heyn on April 18, 1946, in his parents’ back yard in Bridgman.  They moved to Kalamazoo, where he attended Western Michigan as an art student on the GI Bill.  Their older child, Mary Patricia, was born there.  While Ron worked in Reading, Michigan, Pat earned a teaching certificate at Hillsdale College.  They returned to Berrien County in 1951; their younger child, Ronald Grover, was born in Benton Harbor in 1952. Perhaps because she remembered missing her own mother so vividly, Pat felt her primary responsibility was to be a mother; still, she was a substitute teacher and free-lance writer while her children were young.  She felt called to contribute to her community, and through AAUW, helped found a juried art show in 1956, and participated gleefully in their writers’ group.  For many years, she was “Mother” to the youth group at the Saint Joseph First Congregational Church. When her children were older, she returned to teaching high-school English full time, first in Berrien Springs, and then in Coloma.  She earned her MA in English from Western during this time, and she pursued her creative writing until she was close to ninety.  She loved to travel, alone or in company, and she loved meeting and talking to people. Pat leaves daughter Marnie; grandsons Jacob, Rowan, and Benjamin; great-granddaughter Pepper and her siblings Cael, Tallys, and Aislin; cousin Nancy; friend-from-the-cradle Lester “Bub” Brown; and cherished friends, neighbors, and relatives.  She was preceded in death by her parents and step-fathers, her husband Ron, and her son Grover. Visitation will be Sunday, November 29th, 2015, from 2-4pm at Starks & Menchinger Chapel & Cremation Services, 2650 Niles Rd. St. Joseph. Dr. Robert Braman will conduct her funeral at St. Joseph First Congregational Church, 2001 Niles Ave. St. Joseph,on Monday, November 30th, 2015, at 11am, with a luncheon to follow. Memorial contributions may be made to Animal Aid and St. Joseph First Congregational Church. Those wishing to sign Pat’s guestbook may do so online at www.starks-menchinger.com. Her memory is a blessing.