Dr. Raymond Joseph Heidt Obituary (1933

Dr. Raymond Joseph Heidt was born 28 February 1933, the son of Stephen Ralph Heidt and Elizabeth Cephalina Hirschkorn-Heidt and the grandson of immigrants. He graduated from Okanogan (Washington) High School in 1951 and immediately enlisted in the US Army, where he served in the artillery during the Korean conflict, and where he was awarded a Bronze Star. He joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1955, and married Joyce Ann Aston in the Idaho Falls Temple on January 17, 1956. As Ray made his way through undergraduate and then graduate school, the couple welcomed five children. Leaving California for Utah in 1969, Ray first served as an assistant professor at Utah State University, and then as an assistant vice president at Utah Home/Fire Insurance. He graduated with a PhD from the University of Utah in 1977 and finished his career in the offices of the Idaho Insurance Commission. He and his wife served a mission for The Church in 1996-97. Ray was an active member of the American Legion and an avid genealogist, finding the names of over a thousand deceased ancestors. He was also actively engaged in community pursuits and wrote hundreds of letters to the editor in his lifetime. As a grandson of immigrants, Ray said that one of the proudest moments of his life was when his son was a candidate for Idaho governor in 2022. He passed away just short of his 90th birthday on January 28, 2023, after a fall and a brief corresponding illness. He was preceded in death by his wife Joyce and son John Thomas; and is survived by daughter Ruth (Mrs. Mark) Belanger; daughter Elizabeth (Mrs. Jared) Friend; son Stephen and his wife Alex; son Joseph and his wife Vicki; 17 grandchildren, and 25 great-grandchildren.