Ionia County MI Archives Obituaries.....Heufelder, Nicholas December 28, 1982 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Pat Currigan currigan1932@comcast.net April 6, 2020, 8:04 pm Ionia sentinel Standard-Wed. Dec. 29, 1982 Ionia Polar Bear veteran dies at 93 IONIA - An Ionia member of the famed Polar Bear U.S. Army unit that saw service in Russia during World War I died Tuesday in Grand Rapids. Nicholas Heufelder, 93, a long time resident of Harter St., Ionia, died in the Michigan Veterans Facility in Grand Rapids. The Polar Bear regiment, recruited largely in Michigan but with a scattering of men from Illinois, Wisconsin and elsewhere, was intended to provide vital technical assistance in the Archangel-Murmansk area, a northern Russian seaport open much of the year. Few Polar Bear veterans now remain. BORN IN Lenggreis, a Bavarian alpine village, on Dec. 25, 1889, he was the son of Beno and Rosa Greilinger Heufelder. He came to the United States in 1905, after a brother, George, who had come earlier returned to Germany for him. His military and other papers describe him as a "molder" and he was employed at the Hayes shops in Ionia. He became a citizen of the united States in Ionia County Circuit Court August 31, 1914, and entered the U.S. Army, in Company A of the 310th Engineer Regiment, in 1917, when he was 28. "Dad's feet were so badly frostbitten or frozen that his toenails would turn black and fall off. It was that way as long as I can remember. He also mentioned some fighting against the Bolsheviks," Richard continued. and another Polar Bear veteran, Joseph Sauter, also a resident of Michigan Veterans Facility, confirmed the skirmishing. "AT THE time, (of World War I) Richard said, "Dad had a brother in the German Army. He wanted to go from Russia to the Army of Occupation, because his mother was still alive at the time and he wanted to see her. But the only way he said he could have done that was by coming back to the United States and enlisting in the Army of Occupation. And he didn't do that. He was discharged from U.S. service July 26, 1919. "He was the youngest in his family. I'm sure, but I think he may still have a sister living in Germany." LATER HEUFELDER was employed at Michigan Reformatory where a former warden, Joel Moore, now deceased, had been his captain (company commander) in Russia. Richard said, "He and Dad used to go to Polar Bear meetings all the time." Except for a few years of residence in South Dakota, Heufelder lived his American life in the Ionia area. He retired from Michigan Reformatory in 1960 after working there, and the former Ionia State Hospital, for more than 30 years. HE WAS married to the former Mary Bannan of Pewamo in February 1922. She survives and is also living at Michigan Veterans Facility. His son Richard, who survives, retired as athletic director of Marquette Branch prison; also surviving is a grand daughter, Kim Cook of Pewamo, and two great grandsons, Nicholas and Matthew Cook. One son, WIilliam, preceded him in death in 1960. Funeral services will be held Friday at 11 a.m. from SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, the Rev. Henry Donzilla officiating. Burial will be in Mount Olivet Cemetery. A MEMORIAL has been established for SS. Peter and Paul School, in the care of Leddick Funeral Home. The family will be at the funeral home Thursday from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Scripture Rosary service will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home. Additional Comments: Mt. Olivet Cem.-Lot # D-32 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mi/ionia/obits/h/heufelde35226nob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/mifiles/ File size: 3.9 Kb