Colonel Richard “Dick” Michael Heyman Jr.: May 25, 1924 – Jan. 25, 2026
This story was first published on Jan. 28 and has been updated as more reporting has been conducted.
Fighter pilot extraordinaire Colonel Richard “Dick” Michael Heyman Jr., 101, of Creswell, died on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, following a short illness.
The family got together on Monday, Feb. 2 – on what would have been his 66th anniversary with his wife Barbara – for a private gravesite interment. Later in the spring, there will be a public ceremony so that family and friends can get together to celebrate Dick’s life.
Born May 25, 1924, in Coffeyville, Kansas, Richard’s remarkable journey began just seven days after his 18th birthday when he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps on June 2, 1942.
The son of Richard and Rosalyn Heymann – the Army spelled his name wrong on his paperwork, so he just decided to keep it with one ‘n’ – Dick convinced his father to sign for him after he graduated from high school as a 17-year-old.
Dick served in the military as a pilot for 32 years. He was the youngest pilot in the 8th AF, and he flew B-26 Invaders during the Korean War and F-105 Thunderchiefs in Vietnam.
According to military records, the Colonel played a pivotal role in the early hours of June 6, 1944 – commonly known as D-Day, flying escort with the 101st Airborne before returning to cover the morning invasion. A proud member of the 364th Fighter Group, he participated in 342 missions across France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany, and earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for his defense of B-17 Flying Fortresses. He retired from the Air Force in May 1973.
In 1960, he married Barbara J. Keeling from Ipswich, Suffolk, UK.
When he moved to Creswell in 1974 he became part of the community through charitable efforts and civic engagement, serving as a Creswell City Councilor at age 91 and writing columns for The Chronicle. He made a number of donations to the Creswell High School music department, the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and to local animal shelters, to name only a few.
Richard had four children. His first two – Michelle (who lives in Arizona), and Michael (California) – were the product of an earlier marriage. Then Richard met Barb, and Sally (Michigan) and Martin (Arkansas) came along. Martin married another woman named Barbara, and they had three children, who would produce Richard’s only six great-grandchildren. One of Martin and Barbara’s children, Ray, celebrated his birthday on Jan. 25, the same day his Grandpa died.
Topping off his longtime career as a fighter pilot, Heyman is being posthumously awarded the prestigious Legion of Honor, France’s highest award for military or civil service, in Eugene on Feb. 23, 2026. Barbara will accept the award on his behalf – one day after her 90th birthday.
During his illustrious career Heyman also earned the Air Force Commendation Medal Air Force Longevity Service Award with 6 oak leaf clusters (1 silver, 1 bronze); Air Medal with 13 oak leaf clusters (2 silver, 3 bronze); American Campaign Medal Army of Occupation; Distinguished Flying Cross with 3 oak leaf clusters; European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 4 bronze stars; Korean Service Medal; Legion of Merit National Defense Service Medal Silver Star; United Nations Service Medal; and the World War II Victory Medal.
In October 2024, Heyman was flown in as the Guest of Honor at the Royal Air Force Museum American Foundation’s “Spirit of the Battle of Britain” banquet in Washington, D.C. The event marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day. It was Richard’s finest hour, as he regaled a large roomful of admirals and generals with his old war stories.
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Darrin Humble loved hearing all of Heyman’s old war stories – even when he told them over and over again.
“He was a very good communicator about all the theaters of war he was in,” said Humble, who spends much of his time at Hobby Field as owner of Viper Aviation. He and Dick made frequent flights to Quiet Birdmen meetings, an aviators club.
“In all the time we went to Quiet Birdmen meetings, he never repeated the same story twice. …
I listened to him at four different events talking about D-Day, and every time he told the story from a different perspective with new tidbits of information that you didn’t know before.
“I remember I called him a hero once and he looked at me sternly and said, ‘I’m not a hero. I was just doing my job.’”
Humble said having Heyman speak at the Birdmen meetings is a treasure all the members will miss.
“We had a QB meeting on Jan. 8 so he was with us until the very end,” he said.
A full tribute to the Colonel is forthcoming in the Feb. 5 edition of The Chronicle and online at Chronicle1909.com.
The Chronicle has written extensively about Richard over the years. Read through the archives here. A full tribute to the Colonel is forthcoming in the Feb. 5 edition of The Chronicle and online at Chronicle1909.com.
