Clara Mary Heintzman

Born on February 15, 1925 in Stratton, Colorado
Departed in Melbourne, Florida on January 17, 2020

Clara Mary Heintzman died of natural causes January 17, 2020, three weeks shy of her ninety fifth birthday. A memorial service was held at the Brownlie and Maxwell Funeral Home Chapel, presided over by a deacon from Ascension Catholic Church in Melbourne, Florida. Her ashes will eventually be returned to her hometown of Mandan, North Dakota, to be interred there with her deceased husband Daniel James Heintzman, two brothers, Kenneth and Roger, her mother, Catherine Van Der Harst and father, Frank Yetter.

Clara was born in Stratton, Colorado to Catherine and Frank Yetter on February 15, 1925. She and her brothers were consequently raised in and around Mandan, North Dakota. Clara was a graduate of Mandan High School in 1943. Encouraged by her father, she entered the Saint Alexius Hospital School of Nursing in Bismarck, North Dakota and graduated as a Registered Nurse in 1946.

Clara met and married Daniel James Heintzman in June of 1947, and, after becoming a full time staff registered nurse at Saint Alexius Hospital, a position she held from 1959 to 1990, Dan and Clara raised their six children, Daniel, David, Timothy, Michael, Kathy and Jane in Bismarck. Clara maintained a rewarding career in nursing at Saint Alexius Hospital, where for many years former patients would stop her on the street and thank her for the superb care they received at her hands. After retiring from nursing in 1990, Clara and Dan kept residence in Bismarck, often hosting and spending time with their visiting children and grandchildren. Her husband, Dan, died in May of 2009, and Clara, in March of 2012, moved to Omaha, Nebraska and lived close to her son, David, who looked after his mother, until his death in June of 2016. She then moved to Melbourne, Florida, in July of the same year to be close to her daughter, Jane and her husband Peter Bittner. While in Florida Clara continued to nurture relationships with her sons and daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren. She was a great fan of professional tennis, which she followed religiously on television, plus other sports such as football and baseball.

She is survived by her sons, Timothy (Judith Wolfer), Stanley, Virginia and Michael (Patti Pelican), Newburgh, New York; daughter, Jane (Peter Bittner), Melbourne, Florida; daughter, Kathy (Phil Lofarro), Napa Valley, California.

Clara has seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren; Michael and Stephanie Huhn, Makenna and Blake in Parker, Colorado; Katie and Micheal Sautter, Leighton and Lillian in Omaha, Nebraska; Elizabeth Heintzman in Chicago, Illinois; Amy and Patrick Blahosky, Damien and Finnian in Deephaven, Minnesota; Mark Heintzman and Soula, Noah and Owen in Coral Gables, Florida; Henry and Will Heintzman, sons of Michael Heintzman and Patti Pelican in Newburgh, New York.