Anne Elisabet (Lindeman) Heaphy, a resident of Holland since 1977, passed away in Holland on April 7, 2019. Anne was born in Detroit, Michigan, on September 16, 1942. She was preceded in death by her parents, Arnold and Marie Lindeman, and sister, Mary Haab.
Anne attended Detroit Public Schools, graduating from Redford High School in 1960. She attended the University of Michigan and received her Bachelor of Science in Education degree on May 22, 1964 in the company of her husband-to-be, William (Bill) Heaphy, who received his law degree on the same occasion. The couple and their family and friends returned to Detroit that same afternoon where Anne and Bill were married. Bill and Anne’s three children and their spouses, William Heaphy, Jr., and wife Maria Miller, Elizabeth Heaphy and husband Ian Kaplan, and Michael Heaphy and wife Melissa Decker, and their children, Silas, Haven, and Jasper, survive her.
In addition to her Bachelor’s degree, Anne earned a Masters of Arts in Education from the University of Michigan and, in 1987, was awarded a Bachelors of Arts, summa cum laude, in English from Hope College. Early in her marriage, Anne taught Special Education at Jamison Elementary School in Detroit.
Anne was an “Adventuress” who loved the world and sought to see and experience all of it, enthusiastically combining her devotion to her family with her thirst for adventure. She thought she was lucky to live in a time of relative peace and plenty and, determined not to waste it, chose to learn it, see it, and experience it, near and far.
Over 55 years, from the earliest days of her marriage, she enthusiastically plotted and planned family trips and adventures for her husband, children and, later, grandchildren, with whom she camped, backpacked, hiked, and biked. She and Bill covered the back roads of Australia, South Africa, Patagonia, and 49 of the 50 United States, sleeping overnight in 48 of them. (She expressed regret at missing Idaho and Hawaii) Anne loved train travel, crisscrossing the United States and most of Western Europe and embarking on an eight-time-zone Trans-Siberian Railway trek across Russia, Mongolia, and Eastern China. Anne planned, and Bill joined, backpacking-trips 40 miles down the spine of Isle Royale, through the Belly River Basin of Glacier National Park, and along Yosemite’s South Rim opposite El Capitan. With friends, she planned and enjoyed biking trips in the Netherlands and Belgium, through Italy’s Po Valley and Ireland’s Connemara District, and along the Midi Canal of Southwestern France.
Anne loved searching out and lodging in historic hotels, from the Paisano in Marfa,the Oriental in Bangkok, the El Tovar in Grand Canyon, the Old Faithful Inn to the Plaza in Manhattan and the Chattanooga Choo Choo and, then, camping at the corner of Hound Dog Lane and Lonely Street, on the grounds of the Heartbreak Hotel.
Anne’s excursions combined nature and history. In 1980, the family camped behind Omaha Beach, crawling among the bunkers and across the beach, and at Bastogne, the climax of the Battle of the Bulge. They drove, hiked, and explored every major Civil War battlefield, rooming in Longstreet’s farm house headquarters at Antietam and camping along Stonewall Jackson’s final road home, beneath the Spotsylvania battlefield. The family camped in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, along the Appian Way of Rome, and in an olive grove across the Arno from the Duomo.
Throughout, Anne kept extensive diaries and journals of her trips. For driving trips, she downloaded sound tracks appropriate to the venture which she and Bill would enjoy en route (Waltzing Across Texas, The Red River Valley, Shenandoah, El Paso.!!)
Anne loved the Big Lake and, to more fully use it, she and Bill bought a Trawler, christened it “Out of the Blue,” and, after cruising the upper Great Lakes (with Anne accounting for every marker and light house along the way), embarked upon “The Great Circle Trip,” south to Florida then north via the Intercoastal Waterway, circling the eastern seaboard. While passing through New York City, Anne thought to sign up for a permanent berth at the 79th Street Boat Basin on the upper west side’s Riverside Park. Five years later she got the call and they returned to claim their berth on “D Dock,” spending several months per year soaking up life in the Big Apple.
Anne was an accomplished business person, managing antique shops with friends and fellow collectors over the years. And, along the way, with no prior experience or training, she took over and successfully managed the 16-acre Heaphy Blueberry Farm (while the intended manager, her lawyer husband, disappeared into courthouses around the State.)
Over the decades, Anne enthusiastically participated in book clubs, bridge groups, PEO, and numerous other social groups. Her devotion to these organizations and the friends she found there was early formed, later epitomized by her annual treks about the country for reunions with her Girl Scout troop from Detroit’s Vetal Elementary School.
Fifty years ago, Anne introduced the family to the Caribbean, arranging camping on Cinnamon Bay in Virgin Island National Park. Eventually, she discovered Vieques where, 25 years ago, she and Bill bought a home on the beach and wintered for the remainder of her life. As was her wont, Anne threw herself into Vieques life, volunteering for and promoting the activities of the Vieques Conservation and Historical Trust and the Vieques Human Society and forming countless lasting relationships with her Viequesian friends. Anne loved her animal companions, most recently, four rescued satos and two rescued gatos from the streets of Vieques.
Anne was a Michigan Wolverine and a Detroit Tiger fan. She requested and enjoyed a 70th birthday present in Leguna Beach California, with attendance at the Tigers-Angels game in Anaheim. She always made sure trips near Cleveland, Boston, New York, Chicago, Kansas City, and Minneapolis including Tiger road games.
Anne’s grandparents, Alfred and Mary Brummler, help found the Port Sheldon Beach Association over 110 years ago. Anne spent much of every summer of her life “at the cottage” where she loved to host parties, do puzzles, and play board games with her kids. Anne will be especially missed by her many relatives and friends at PSBA.
A visitation will be held from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Dykstra Funeral Home, 29 East 9th Street, in downtown Holland, with a reception to follow from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Holland Area Arts Council, 150 East 8th Street.
