September 29, 2020 – Slinger, WI – Mary Lea Heidt (nee Springer), 67, of Slinger, Wisconsin passed away after a courageous 5-year battle with brain cancer on Friday, September 25, 2020 in her home, surrounded by her loving family.
Mary Lea was born August 8, 1953 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Carolee (nee Devins) and Larry Springer.
She resided in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin for most of her childhood and graduated from Hamilton High School in 1972. Mary Lea attended Carthage College in Kenosha, WI where she excelled in basketball and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1975.
She then joined the United States Navy and served honorably as a hospital corpsman for eight years. In the Navy, she met Brian C. Heidt in Bethesda, Maryland and they were married on September 2, 1978 at Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
Their careers relocated Mary Lea and Brian and their growing family to Charleston, South Carolina; Portsmouth, Virginia; and Mystic, Connecticut where she worked for South County Laboratory in Westerly, Rhode Island.
They returned to Wisconsin in 1992 and made Slinger their home since 1994. Mary Lea retired in October 2018 after working for Aurora Health Care in Menomonee Falls and West Allis as a medical technologist with a special interest in microbiology.
She enjoyed everything about the outdoors: birdwatching, biking, camping, hiking, gardening, traveling, and off-roading in the family’s collection of Jeep’s. Mary Lea had an immense soft spot for animals. Her love for her family and friends, especially her grandchildren, will never be forgotten, but forever missed.
Mary Lea is survived by her beloved husband of 42 years, Brian; loving children, Sarah Lea (Daniel) Follett and Matthew (Erin) Heidt; adored grandchildren, Hazel Marie, Levi Patrick, Henry Thomas, and Lillian Madison; loving mother, Carolee Drewieck; dear siblings, Kristin (Glenn) Baldwin, Carl (Cindy) Springer and Mark (Donna) Springer; and dear sister-in-law, Carol Hall. She is further survived by other loved relatives and friends. She is preceded in death by her grandmother, Katherine Devins; parents-in-law, Marguerite and Eugene Heidt; and brother-in-law, Russell Hall.
A Memorial Service for Mary Lea will be held Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 6 p.m.
Family will greet relatives and friends at the funeral home from 4 p.m.-5:45p.m.
*At the request of the family, all visitors must wear a mask.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in Mary Lea’s memory are appreciated to the Washington Co. Humane Society or to the American Brain Tumor Association in care of the Heidt family.
We remember Mary Lea with the following passage:
She is always with you. She’s the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street, she’s the smell of certain foods you remember, flowers you pick, the warmth of a blazing fire, and the fragrance of life itself. She’s the cool hand on your brow when you’re not feeling well, she’s your breath in the air on a cold winter’s day. She is the sound of the rain that lulls you to sleep, all the colors of the rainbow, she is Christmas morning. She lives inside your laughter, your smile, and your heart. She’s the place you call home and the compass which guides you on your journey. Nothing on Earth can separate you from her. Not time, not space, not even death…