Leo Heilman Sr.
Oct. 12, 1934-Oct. 17, 2019
Leo Joseph Heilman Sr.,
the son of Conrad and
Magdalena (Volk) Heil-
man was born October 12,
1934 in Rugby, North
Dakota. He died at the
age of 85 years on Thurs-
day, October 17, 2019 in
the Souris Valley Care
Center in Velva, North
Dakota.
Leo was raised in the
Villard Township,
McHenry County home of
his parents and received
his education in a country
school, one mile from his
home. At the very young
age of 12, Leo became the
man of the home and farm
due to the declining
health of his father. It
was a hard job for such a
young man, but he made
it happen and kept the
farm in the hands of the
family. On October 25,
1960, he was united in
marriage to Caroline
Bachmeier at the Sacred
Heart Catholic Church in
Orrin, North Dakota. The
couple made their home
on the Heilman family
farm where they raised
their five children, farmed
and ranched. He was
proud that he had a dairy
herd too and milked for
50 years, first by hand
and later by machine. Leo
and Caroline also owned
and operated the Heilman
Bar in Karlsruhe for 17
years.
He was a member of
Sts. Peter & Paul’s Cathol-
ic Church in Karlsruhe
and a current attendee of
St. Cecilia’s Catholic
Church in Towner, North
Dakota. Prideful of his
42-year membership in
the Knights of Columbus,
32 years as a 4th Degree
Knight, he also previously
served on the Villard
Township and Karlsruhe
School Boards and drove
school bus for many
years. He loved to play
cards especially pinochle,
enjoyed going to auctions
sales, putting puzzles to-
gether, gardening and
word search. Leo and
Caroline traveled to many
pinochle tournaments, in-
cluding Dickenson,
Williston, Minot and Val-
ley City. In 2001, being
the “professionals”, they
were, won the North
Dakota State Pinochle
Tournament in Valley
City where they complet-
ed against 162 teams.
He will be sadly missed
by: his wife Caroline of 58
years, his children, Con-
nie (Terry) Heit, Michael,
Donald (Corrine), Wanda
(Joe) Kriedeman and Leo
Jr. (Angie); seven
grandchildren & ten
great-grandchildren, they
are Christopher (Sarah)
Heit & son Corbin; Sarah
(Jordan) Olean & their
children, BraeLynn Ili-
anha & Ainsley; Katie
(Chris) Bacher & son, Elli-
ot; Sierra (Andrew)
Scheile, their son, Harris-
on; Seth (Kristen) Heil-
man, their son, Clyde;
Brendan (Kayla) Hanson &
their family Raymen,
Remington & Mirraeya;
and Heath Heilman; si-
blings, Christine Schell,
Phil Heilman and Diane
Idle; many brothers and
sisters-in-law; numerous
nieces, nephews, other re-
latives and friends. He
was preceded in death by
3 brothers, Edward, Con-
rad & Larry; a sister in in-
fancy & sister, Johanna
Heintz; and his parents.
Mass of Christian buri-
al will be held at 10:30
a.m. Monday, Oct. 21st at
St. Cecilia’s Catholic
Church, Towner with a
2:00 p.m. burial in the
Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic
Cemetery in Karlsruhe.
Father Michael Schom-
mer, Celebrant and Msgr.
Joseph Senger and Father
Peter Sharpe, Concele-
brants
Arrangements with the
Anderson Funeral Home
of Towner.
Online registry:
www.funerals
byanderson.com