CRESWELL – If you were to Google the phrase “A life well lived,” it’s unlikely that Richard Heyman’s profile would pop up.
It would make perfect sense, though, if it did.
Because Col. Richard “Dick” Michael Heyman Jr., who died Sunday, Jan. 25 at the age of 101, checked off all the boxes.
Service to his country: Few have done it better than Dick, who was a fighter pilot in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, flying 342 missions and winning a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and countless other honors along the way. But while others may have viewed his 32 years of service as the ultimate sacrifice, Heyman didn’t see it that way. “I was just doing my job,” he said on more than one occasion, “and I had the best job in the world.”
Being a pillar in his community: After retiring from the military at age 50 after a 32-year career, Richard moved his family to Creswell, Ore., in 1974. He worked several odd jobs and did a lot of volunteer work before taking on a role with the Lane County District Attorney’s office as an investigative assistant and then a parole officer. He “retired” again at age 62, but he was elected to the Creswell City Council in 2015 and remained civic-minded.
Family comes first: Even though he was oftentimes away from home due to military commitments, Heyman’s love for his family always was his first priority. Friends routinely talked about what a sweet couple Dick and Barbara were. Three of their four children, all in their 60s and 70s now, have masters degrees and the other one had a successful career in business – in part because Barb ran a tight ship when Dick was away on assignment. “We always had a faithful and loving relationship,” Barbara said. “We stayed too busy for anything else. My father was in the British Army – he was a Major when he got out – so I’ve always been accustomed to military life. Plus, I took lessons from my mom, she was wonderful during World War II. That gave me a good background.”
Through thick and thin, Richard loved Barbara until he was a hundred years old. And then some.
After being hospitalized in isolation with a severe case of the flu in mid-January, Dick was released to the Green Valley Rehabilitation Health Center in Eugene. During his final hours, he had been visiting with Barbara and his son Martin and his wife, also named Barbara.
“I think the flu and his age were the main reasons he finally passed on. He also got some fluid in his lungs. We were so glad to be at Green Valley, though. They did an excellent job,” Barbara said.
The last thing Richard said to Barbara?
“He told me to take care of myself,” she said. “He was always very thoughtful in that sort of way.”
He had to conquer a whole array of obstacles on his way to becoming an Air Force fighter pilot, and he overcame them all with flying colors. He treated people with kindness and respect. He donated regularly to many charitable causes.
If life had a road map, he did a great job of navigating it.
“Creswell has lost a real gem,” former Chronicle publisher Scott Olson said after hearing about Heyman’s passing.
Scott was publisher of The Chronicle from 2011 to February 2019 and his wife Jeanne was the editor for part of that time, and they created a close bond with the Heymans.
“He sort of took to us and he always wanted to be a part of Creswell,” Olson said. “Even after he resigned from City Council, he always wanted to stay involved.
“It’s one of the perks of what we do, sometimes you get to meet someone like Richard Heyman, and it’s like he lived two people’s lives – after his Air Force life he continued the mission of talking to schools and clubs and anybody else he could talk to. He was such a caring and giving individual.
“After I sold The Chronicle to Noel and Denise (Nash), he asked me to come golf with him – and I was such a terrible golfer – but he taught me the game and I always looked forward to playing twice every week. I have so many fun memories.
“We had a foursome, but it sometimes grew into two groups because everyone wanted to play with him. It meant so much to play with him. Watching him play, you would never guess he was in his late 90s.”
Ah, the memories. Olson said every visit with the Heymans was a time to treasure.
Heyman played until his “frozen foot” problem – a remnant from flying a plane in Korea without a heater – caused neuropathy issues, forcing him to give up the game at 99.
“He was so open about his time in the military – he loved his time in the military,” Olson said. “And he was such a social animal, he and Barb.
“We adored him, we got to do dinners at Blue Valley Bistro – when everything was supposed to be all about him and Barbara – and they just wanted to know about you and what you were doing, because that’s the kind of people they were.”
Olson bought the Polk County Itemizer Observer newspaper in Dallas after leaving The Chronicle but is now retired. He and Jeanne still live in Creswell.
Former Creswell Mayor Richard Zettervall said he was “terribly saddened” to hear about the Colonel’s passing.
“He was such a hero in my eyes,” Zettervall said. “I like to think that Richard and I had a special relationship.
“Years ago he and I talked about his long military service. I was blown away at the length of his service over several wars. That’s when I realized the true hero that he really was.
“We talked several times about three of my uncles who all served in World War II – one in the Navy, one in the Army, and the third in the Air Force. My father was too young, but forged his birth certificate to get into the Marine Corps. He laughed and said, ‘Well, they had the branches of service covered!’
“Richard listened intently to the stories of my relatives in the war and especially that of my father. Richard said to me, ‘I knew that you had to have had a strong military influence in your young years, this just proves why I like you.’ I’ll never forget those words but especially the look in his eyes. It was like he was smiling at me with his eyes, even though there was no smile on his face.
“I’ll forever remember Col. Richard Heyman and will hold his memory near and dear. He was a hero with a big heart!”
When the family moved to Creswell in 1974, the two youngest kids – Sally and Martin – were 13 and 12. Richard had retired within days of his 50th birthday – but slowing down? That wasn’t in his DNA.
Talking to his former flight surgeon and longtime Eugene friend and confidant Dr. Kenneth Singer (who penned a memoir about Heyman – “My Life: As I Knew it and Lived It”) he remembered his career thusly: “I looked back and thought about all the great times, and as I liked to say, ‘Hours and hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer panic.’”
Dick and Barb bought a 100-acre lot in Camas Swale and spent 18 years outside of Creswell. “We built a house and we had two barns and we had sheep and cows and pigs,” Barbara said. “Then we moved into Creswell briefly, then out to Pleasant Hill for six years, then we spent five years at The Brookings before we moved to the (Emerald Valley) golf course.
“But much of our time we spent in an RV traveling the country – including a four-month around-the-world trip. He would stop along the way to send stories back to The Chronicle.”
While working on the farm, Dick did nearly all of his own plumbing, electrical, drywall, windows, and doors.”
Dick and longtime Creswell resident Ed Gunderson – perhaps best known for making portable shelter huts for the homeless – shared some of the same passions.
“Woodworking is something we had in common,” Gunderson said during Saturday’s Coffee With a Cop get-together at Blue Valley Bistro. “When he sold a bunch of his tools, I bought a vice from him and when I’d see him I‘d refer to it as the ‘Dick Heyman Memorial Vice,’ and then his trailer got stolen, so that was a sad deal. And we used to talk a lot about flying and I would help him with his computer.
“One thing that sticks out with me – I remember him talking about growing up in Oklahoma, and he was Jewish, when he joined the Army Air Force they always referred to him as ‘Jew boy.’ He really overcame a lot. Growing up in Oklahoma as a Jew, I imagine, wasn’t easy. And somehow he rose up to a higher rank. It always amazed me that he stayed in active service that long. Not many people do.
“He was also very polite, which is not so normal nowadays. After what he went through, he could have become a bitter old man. But he chose not to.”
While growing up, Richard said he was bullied occasionally for being the only Jewish kid his age in his town. Once, a friend’s father brought him a big stick that helped him fend off some boys who had been harassing him.
There was no synagogue near his town, and no opportunities for formal religious training. He still wore his heritage proudly on his sleeve. When his fellow airmen started calling him “Super Jew,” he didn’t take offense, he embraced the nickname.
Finally, at age 43, Richard had his own Bar Mitzvah at the request of his oldest children, Michael and Michelle, close to the time when they were having their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs.
Some of the Heymans’ neighbors say they’re really going to miss the old-timer.
“He’s just an amazing man, having been in three wars,” said Gary Schweitzer, who lives a few houses away with his wife Susan. “He comes scooting down the street in his wheelchair and he’s always fun to visit with for a few minutes. And Barb is such a sweetheart! I never got to play golf with him. I always wanted to get a chance to play with him.
“They’re just great neighbors.”
Susan echoed Gary’s sentiments.
“The things he did in his life – just incredible!” Susan said. “And he’s a wonderful conversationalist. He was such an interesting guy, he talked about anything, everything! He was so entertaining.
“I admired the life they both lived.”
The Heymans are more like family to Colin Taylor, who lives nearby.
“When I heard about his passing, I just started crying,” Taylor said. “I was so sad. Wednesday, I went to get a burger, and Barbara and her son and daughter-in-law were in there, so we sat there and talked. It was good to see them.”
Taylor was also one of Richard’s old golfing buddies and he’s British – like Barbara.
“Her brother was in the same military regiment as me, so we always have a lot in common,” Taylor said. “I also get them hot cross buns every Easter. My fiancee loved Barb but sadly passed away last year, and now Richard is gone, too.
“One day he lent me this book (“Crimson Sky”) and I’m reading it and there’s one section all about him in Vietnam. He was flying and he had to bomb this road because there were a bunch of Vietcong there. I’m reading this and going, ‘That’s amazing!’ I didn’t know he was so famous.”
Because of his nighttime heroics, Heyman was dubbed “Bedcheck Charlie” in the book. It might have been his greatest moment as a pilot, in the twilight of his 32-year career.
Ironically, Taylor’s great-uncle, John Worsley, was awarded the Croix de Guerre by the French for his efforts against the Germans during the retreat of Dunkirk in 1940 – and later this month, on Feb. 23, Heyman will be posthumously honored by the French, when Barbara will accept the the prestigious Legion of Honor on his behalf at the Eugene Airport’s Soaring by the Sea Foundation Museum. The award was set in motion by the Royal Air Force Museum American Foundation ([email protected]), which lobbied the French Embassy to get the award for Heyman.
The RAFMAF was also the impetus in setting up an honor flight to Washington, D.C., in October 2024, in which Heyman was the guest of honor for the “Spirit of the Battle of Britain” banquet that marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
Heyman was more than appreciative of all the wonderful gestures … but afterward he said he was suffering a bit of “honor” fatigue.
“Every year, for every Memorial Day and every Veterans Day, I’ve been a guest speaker and a guest of honor so many times, I think it’s time to let somebody else do it,” Heyman said from his easy chair after the D.C. trip. “After a while, it’s just time to move on.”
When Heyman was in Vietnam, he had become a rare commodity: a fighter pilot who had fought in three major wars. After being sent home, he thought his combat days were over. Then he got called back again.
One last deployment.
Barbara took it all in stride.
“It was his job. You just get on with it,” she said. “There was one point (when he first went to Vietnam) where I thought he wouldn’t be coming back. But the second time, I was living on base around people who were supportive. That made all the difference.”
Feb. 2 would have been Rich and Barb’s 66th wedding anniversary. The family commemorated the occasion with a private gravesite interment that day. A public ceremony will be announced later this spring so family and friends can get together to celebrate Dick’s life.
