MANNSVILLE, NY — Evelyn Goodfriend Heckeler, 91, died suddenly but peacefully on Palm Sunday at St. Luke Healthcare Services, Oswego. She was a resident of Montario Point Road, Mannsville, for 26 years.
Evelyn was born May 16, 1927, to farmers Henry and Jenny McCullough in Lonsdale, Ontario, Canada. She attended a one-room schoolhouse in Lonsdale and graduated from Deseronto High School, which she attended while living in a boarding house weekdays in the village. She completed grade 13 and then graduated from Peterborough Normal School.
Evelyn taught at Howe Island Public School for two years before taking a job teaching at another one-room schoolhouse in Bell’s Corners near Ottawa, Ontario.
She married Harold Eugene Goodfriend, son of Joseph and Madeline (Beaubien) Goodfriend, Howe Island, Ont., on Aug. 10, 1948, in the chapel of St. Mary’s Cathedral, Kingston. In 1948, they became naturalized United States citizens, living and working for a time in Watertown, Dexter and Moravia, before moving to Montgomery, Ala., after Mr. Goodfriend joined the U.S. Air Force.
A veteran serving during the Korean War, Corporal Goodfriend started to experience severe vision loss and leg weakness, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and received an honorable discharge.
The couple returned to the north country and bought a State Route 3 dairy farm, which they operated with neighboring farmers Lyman and Frances Frear, then Robert and Ruth Payne, until 1980, when Mr. Goodfriend died after contracting a virus on the way home from Florida. Mrs. Goodfriend was a bookkeeper for the farm, a homemaker and a caregiver for her disabled husband for more than 25 years. The final two years of Mr. Goodfriend’s life, the couple spent winters near friends in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Mrs. Heckeler married Russell G. Heckeler on Jan. 11, 1986, at St. Francis Xavier Cabrini Roman Catholic Church, Lacona, and they built a house in Mannsville, spending winters in Spring Hill, Fla. Mr. Heckeler died in September 1996.
Evelyn was a parishioner of St. Francis Xavier Cabrini church and, later, Christ Our Light church, Pulaski, after St. Francis and St. John the Evangelist churches merged. She was an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist and had served on the parish council and the Altar Rosary Societies. She volunteered at the Friendship Thrift Shoppe, Sandy Creek, and at Belleville Henderson Central School.
Evelyn enjoyed reading and played on golf leagues in Mannsville and in Florida and bowling leagues in Pulaski and Adams. She was a. Member of the Red Hats Society, Adams, and for years socialized with the Ellisburg Willing Workers. Evelyn also liked playing cards, especially Euchre and Pitch, with neighbors and family, and kept up with cherished relatives, near and far.
Surviving Evelyn are a son, Harold E. Goodfriend Jr. (Jeanne), Seber Shores, Sandy Creek, a daughter, Judy Goodfriend Jacobs (Walter), Mannsville, three step-children, Cindy Shannon, Parish, James Heckeler, Deborah Heckeler, Arizona. Evelyn delighted in her five grandchildren, Shanea (Rob) Coffin, Lacona, Cody (Natasha) Goodfriend, Pulaski, Alexandra (Andreas) Wilke, Potsdam, Dustin Goodfriend, Pulaski, and Gretchen (Andre) Costello, Pittsburgh, and two step-grandchildren, Kimberly Shannon, Parish, and Brian Shannon, Parish.
Evelyn also is survived by seven great grandchildren and three step-great grandchildren. She kept in touch with many dear nieces and nephews over the years and strived to keep her extended family close. Whenever she learned of good news and fortune of family, she was proud.
Predeceasing Evelyn besides her husbands were her stillborn infant son, Francis Goodfriend, her brothers, Michael McCullough, who died at age 10 before Evelyn’s birth, Leo McCullough and Frank (Eileen) McCullough,and sisters, Marie (Herbert “Grant”) Elliott, Rita (Wilfred) O’Brien and Loretta (Clifford) O’Reilly.
Calling hours will be From 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, April 22, at Carpenter Stoodley Funeral Home, Belleville.
The funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 23, 2019, at Christ Our Light church, 23 Niagara St., Pulaski with the Rev. James Schulz, administrator, co-officiating with Fr. Martin Cline, pastor of St. Cecilia’s and Queen of Heaven parishes in Adams and Henderson, respectively, and Deacon Larry Ambeau, Henderson. The burial will take place immediately after the funeral with internment at Ellisburg Cemetery.
Donations in her name may be made to Christ Our Light Youth Group, 23 Niagara Street, Pulaski, in care of Fr. Schultz, or the Ellisburg Cemetery Association, P.O. Box 31, Ellisburg, NY, 13636.
Online condolences may be made at carpenterstoodley.com
