Wallace Dean Heinrichs was born December 18, 1935 to Emma Catherine (Willems) and Samuel Jacob Heinrichs and passed away Tuesday, January 2, 2018 at McPherson Hospital in McPherson, Kansas, at the age of 82 years and 14 days.

They were blessed with an early Christmas surprise when not only did they add one son to the family, but two! Wallace and his identical twin brother, Willard, were small, but their grandmother knew how to take care of tiny babies!  She placed them both in a box and set the box close to the oven to keep them warm in the chilly air of December.  The twins grew and thrived on their parents' farm.  They learned how to take care of animals as well as machinery. They learned to farm and to love the land.  Dad was baptized in 1951 upon confession of his faith in Jesus Christ. He never spoke much about his faith, but his daily life and his character demonstrated that faith. He was also faithful in prayer and in reading God's Word.

Dad spent his school years at Corn Public School where he played clarinet in the high school band.  His height allowed him to excel at basketball, helping one of his high school teams advance to the state tournament.    He was also fairly skilled in pranks and mischief!  It was at Corn Public School that he and Marjorie Janzen fell in love.  Love lead to engagement and to marriage on December 28, 1954.  This was a day Mom and Dad never forgot!  A fierce blizzard blew in, and folks made it to the church, but after the reception, very few could make it home.  Mom and Dad had to spend their wedding night at his parents' home which was closer to Corn than their own.  Dad recalled that he stuck his head out the window as he drove to try and see through the howling snowstorm!  After that unforgettable beginning, they settled down for a bit on their farm near Colony, but decided that they needed to earn some money. This lead to their California adventure!  They moved to Santa Monica and lived in an apartment near Venice Beach and within walking distance to the ocean.  During this time Dad worked pumping gas for the movie stars in Hollywood and putting in shifts at the aircraft plant, MacDonald-Douglas.  Dad enjoyed living in California and loved to return there in his truck driving days.  After earning that money, Mom and Dad returned to their farm and started their family. Cassandra was born first in 1958, followed by Randy and Steven.  Robert was born in 1968 after they moved to the Heinrichs family farm where Dad had grown up.  Our growing up years were the absolute best!  Dad was always patient and gentle with his children.  He let us help him with repairs to the farm equipment and involved us in the day to day operations of a farm as soon as he thought we could manage the tasks.

Dad could fix anything and loved working with his hands.    His barn for repairs was always strewn with parts and tools and projects big and small.  He also spent several years building houses with his brother-in-law, Lawrence Vogt, in Weatherford.  When it came time to build  a new house on the farm, he had a company build the frame, and then finished every bit of the inside and out himself.

Dad was calm and even-tempered.  The only times we recall that he raised his voice was during wheat harvest and cattle roundup.  Sometimes those combine repairs just needed a bigger hammer and those uncooperative cattle needed to be yelled at with a more descriptive vocabulary!

Dad was always involved in the community and the church.  He never hesitated to help friends, neighbors, and family, and was a cheerful giver.  He served on the school board of Washita Heights, served as a youth sponsor, and was on several different committees in the Corn M.B. church.  During the time the current church was in its planning and building stages, Dad was active on the building committee.  He drove his semi truck to Montana to haul back the huge beams of the church sanctuary. He and Mom also served on the catering committee for many years, and were involved in a pastoral search.

Dad was content with the simple things in life:  good food, family, and working with his hands.  He was involved in custom wheat harvesting for many years, starting in high school, and finally retiring from that business when his hired hands (kids) moved out of the home or found employment that actually paid!  We all made memories during those years, and still tell the stories of the good times and adventures.

The oldest 5 grandchildren spent many of their first years staying with Papa and Nana on the farm while their parents worked.  They also made lasting memories there, and Papa helped build a treehouse for them out in the pasture in a stand of trees.  After a lifetime of raising wheat and cattle, kids and grandkids, Mom and Dad sold the farms in 1991 after the cattle market decline of the 1980s.  Dad then took up truck driving full time.  This gave him a chance to see all parts of the United States, and he loved it.  He could talk about details of where he had been and what he had experienced years after those events happened.  His truck driving adventures finally came to an end when he retired in 2014.  Never one to just sit around and be bored, Dad then took a part time job hauling or driving vehicles to different locations for the Cummins dealership in Weatherford.

Dad's favorite times were those spent with kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids.  He loved family celebrations, and looked forward to weddings, birthdays, holidays, or a chance to just eat and hang out!   His last few weeks of life here on earth were spent with Randy and Stephanie, enjoying Christmas and fellowship with children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Dad and Mom loved to travel, and took 2 cruises- one to Alaska and one to the Caribbean. Around 1980, they happened upon a small town in Colorado, and fell in love with it.  Lake City became a place they returned to many times, and sometimes family and friends joined them there.  We also had 2 family get-togethers in Breckenridge, Colorado. that almost everyone in the family was able to attend.

Back in the 80's, Dad turned an old International Scout into a mountain road vehicle which Rob and Steve and Mark enjoyed on the four wheel drive roads around Lake City.  During one memorable trip over the Alpine Loop, the transmission bolts of the Scout came loose, which stranded us on the side of the road between Silverton and Ouray. (Dad had taken the Scout to a transmission shop before bringing it to Colorado.)  Of course, this was before cell phones were used, so what to do?  Dad did not have the needed tools and could not repair it on the roadside, so Mark decided he would hitch a ride to Ouray with someone and send out help. After repair time, it was too late to travel back over the mountain passes before dark, so we sent word to the sheriff's office back at Lake City to let Mom know we would be late coming back to the cabin. When the deputy showed up to tell her, it took several years off her life because she imagined that we had fallen off the side of the mountain! We had to travel many more miles on the main highways than we would have over the mountain pass, so our adventure concluded in the dark with only one headlight providing useful light while the other shone in the trees overhead!  Dad made his final trip with Mark and Cassie and their family to Lake City in the summer of 2016.  He thoroughly enjoyed seeing his beloved mountains and traveling over the Alpine Loop again.  This time it was safely traversed in a Polaris Ranger driven by Amber's husband, Ryan! Dad sat in the front seat and got a face full of dust, but loved every minute of that ride!

And what a ride Dad's life has been!  So many adventures and memories!  On January 2, 2018, after a 2 year illness, Dad took one final trip when God called him to his eternal home.

Dad leaves behind his children, Cassie and husband Mark Moses of Elk City, Oklahoma; Randy and wife Stephanie of McPherson, Kansas; Steven and wife Sharbee of Weatherford, Oklahoma; and Robert and wife Brenda of Corn, Oklahoma.  Also his grandchildren: Amber and Ryan Waggoner, Emerald and Jonathan Beck, Michael and Ginnifer Heinrichs, Tyler and Hilary Heinrichs, Bonnie and Chaz Robinson, Lindsay Heinrichs, Luke and Megan Goucher, Bridgette Heinrichs, Heather Heinrichs, and Chris Vandersloot.  Also great-grandchildren:  Madeline, Jaxton, Aubrey, A.J., Beau, Hunter, Kimber, Colt, Charley, and Kobe.  Dad also leaves behind on this earth his brothers and their wives:  Willard and Velma Heinrichs, Ken and Juanita Heinrichs, and Dr. Jerome and Irene Adams. Dad was preceded in death by our mom, Marjorie, as well as his parents.

Our dad will be greatly missed, but we look forward to the day when we will all be home together again.