Details

Collection Summary
Collection: FND001 - SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program
Series: Tribute
Folder: DIG
Item: 271275
Title: James Heck
Date: 8/10/1941-8/10/2024
Creator:
Inscription/Marks: 8/10/1941
Summary: James Heck, 83, of Bismarck, formerly of Dickinson, ND, passed away suddenly at the Benedictine Living Community in Bismarck on August 10, 2024, while celebrating his 83rd birthday surrounded by family. Funeral services were held August 20, 2024, at Stevenson Funeral Home. Burial was at St. Joseph’s Cemetery. James Heck was born on August 10, 1941, to Valentine and Beatrice (Urlacher) Heck, the oldest of four sons. He attended St. Mary’s school in New England, ND, and started helping neighbors on their farms at the age of 14. At the age of 18, he met the love of his life, but didn’t know it yet. At the age of 22, he married that young gal, Bernice Privratsky, on April 16, 1963. They shared a wonderful 61 years together, and were proud parents of three children, Todd, Melanie and Brad. James had a lifelong love for auto body work. He started his career at a young age at Sax Motor Company in Dickinson and went on to continue his career at different businesses over the years, until he opened Jim’s Auto Body Shop in 1978. He looked forward to going to work every day, no matter how hard or long the day was. In 2004 he was forced into an early retirement due to health issues. In 2005 James suffered a debilitating stroke and the family was told he would not survive. He proved the medical world wrong, and he not only survived, but he thrived and became an inspiration to anyone that knew him. He lived out the rest of his life not able to speak, but that didn’t stop him from letting his family and friends know how much he loved them. He endured many more years of health issues, yet never gave up or accepted defeat. James was truly a blessing to his family. Before his stroke, James loved fishing, camping with friends, and found a love for golfing with his family. He had a soft spot for animals and would always help one in need, no questions asked. He passed that love of animals on to his three children. He continued to be an avid Broncos fan and enjoyed a good game of checkers up until the end. He was truly a kind soul and will be missed deeply. James is survived by his wife, Bernice Heck; daughter, Melanie (Rick) Marchus, of Bismarck; sons, Todd (Jody) Heck, of Dickinson, and Brad Heck, of Boise, ID; granddaughter, Tylee (Michael) Mann, of Dickinson; great-grandchildren, Murphie Mann and Callum Mann, of Dickinson; grandson, Skyler Heck (Clover Welu), of Denver, CO; godchildren, Jennifer Goldberg and Alex Marsh; brothers-in-law, Roger (Berni) Privratsky and Merle Rambousek; sisters-in-law, LaVerne (David) Ficek, Michaela Duerre (Jesse Keidel), and Jolin (Keith) Marsh. James was preceded in death by his parents, Valentine and Beatrice Heck; brothers, Lavern Heck, Timothy Heck, and Earnest Heck; parents-in-law, William and Josephine Privratsky; sister-in-law, Cynthia Rambousek; and brother-in-law, Dan Duerre.
Red ID: FND_I_78765 Image ID: 514510 Image Notes: FND001 271275

Collection: FND001 Digitized Images from Collection
Title: SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program
Date: -

Summary: The North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program is sponsored by the North Dakota Funeral Directors Association. The life stories of deceased North Dakotans are featured in an archvied collection. Current partners in the project are Eastgate Funeral & Cremation Services, Bismarck Evans Funeral Homes, Carrington and New Rockford Everson-Coughlin Funeral Home, Williston Fulkerson Funeral Home, Tioga Fulkerson Funeral Home, Watford City Fulkerson Stevenson Funeral Home, Williston Nero Funeral Home, Bottineau Parkway Funeral Service, Bismarck Springan Stevenson Funeral Home, Stanley Stevenson Funeral Home, Dickinson These funeral homes provide recent obituaries to the Foundation, where staff and volunteers format, edit and archive each memorial. The memorials are posted, and copies are sent to the family for their input and approval. The listing currently features more than 13,000 memorials, and is constantly updated as new memorials and histories are received.

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