Heather, who got her first college degree from Michigan State in some undisclosed year, showed her precocity at a very early age! She walked and talked long before her first birthday, and about Easter during that first year she helped her parents with the gardening chores: she picked slugs off the plants and popped them into her mouth! Early on she learned to dress up, which, even then, was not always enjoyable. But, special occasions occurred throughout the years, when she was willing to go the extra mile - especially for special aunts or cousins, like Zola and Virginia.

Heather was born in Pasadena, California where she attended week day school at Polytechnic (kindergarten through eighth grade) and Sunday School at Lake Avenue Congregational. Her excellent memory served her well during those years, and she still has awards won at both places. Her linguistic abilities flourished during that time also, and were further developed during her final year of high school - in Norway. Year after year she added more languages, and more expertise, and by the time she finished her Ph.D. class work at Northwestern she was speaking French, German, Norwegian, Standard American English and "Southern." For her latest degree, a Masters in Divinity from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, she mastered (and even tutored) Greek and Hebrew! How this could happen I'll never know, her parents certainly don't have abilities like this.

Sometime between degrees, Heather worked at market research long and well enough to become a Vice President at DDB Needham, Worldwide (Chicago), an expert focus group leader and to rack up a sizeable frequent flyer account. Leaving "the agency" to set up her own business, Heather continued with many of the same accounts of prior years. But now there was no computer staff, no in-house library or data base, and no secretary. She did it all. And that's not much fun! Maybe, just MAYBE, that's one reason she went back to school.

Heather never gave up visiting her family, especially at Christmas . She always treated her grandmother with respect, and even gave a tribute at her memorial service - remembering Nanny's help memorizing Psalm 91 many years before. The summer after her Norway experience Heather spent several months in Kingsburg, working at Del Monte. Grandpa Thiessen and local cousins helped familarize this city gal with real farmers - and she loved it! Through the years she's visited many family members and family sites, even indulging her mother in family history.

So, you see, Heather is a real, down-to-earth person, who happens to be exceptionally talented and genuinely nice, also. I'm proud of this lady, Heather Anne Thiessen, I love her very much and am grateful to claim her as my daughter.