Harold Hal R. Heard

Harold R. Heard, 94, died Wednesday, November 17, 2010, in Colorado Springs. Harold was born Christmas Day, 1915 in St. Paul, Minnesota to Charles and Amanda Heard. In 1938, he married Murl “Micki” Montgomery in Owosso, Michigan.

He graduated from Owosso College in Michigan with a Theology degree and after serving as a minister for several years returned to school and earned an accounting degree at Anderson College. He worked with RCA as an accountant in Indianapolis, then with Spencer Kellogg in Buffalo, NY. For 20 years Harold served as the CEO of Salem Corporation in Pittsburgh. During that time he and his beloved wife, Micki, were active members of The Mount Lebanon United Methodist Church.

After his retirement, he and Micki worked with the Guyami Indians in Panama and volunteered to build schools in Haiti. The couple worked in conjunction with the Coast Guard to organize one of the largest shipments of books and garden supplies ever airlifted from Pittsburgh to Haiti.

Harold then came out of retirement to serve as the minister of the Puula Congregational Church on the Big Island of Hawaii where he and Micki also started a preschool and organized a Young Life Club for thirty impoverished youth. After Micki's death in 1999 Harold married lifelong friend Mary Shoemaker in 2002. He and Mary continued the ministry in Hawaii until Harold retired again at the age of 88, and the couple returned to Mary's home in Colorado Springs.

Harold, the oldest of four children, is survived by his sister Eileen Mixer of San Diego, CA; his children Carol Argiro of Bethel Park, PA, Rod Heard and his spouse, Susan Walker of Chicago, IL, Barbara Heard of Rio Grande, NJ, and stepson, Dennis Shoemaker and his spouse Elizabeth of Colorado Springs, CO; his six grandchildren, Sheryl (Michael) Legato, Scott (Jennifer) Argiro, Brad (Lori) Argiro, Jessica Leeburg, Amanda Leeburg, and Emily Leeburg McBain; his six great-grand children, Kassandra Roark, Kayla Legato, Joel Argiro, Avery Argiro, Anthony Argiro, and Liam Larkin; two step-grandchildren, Mark (Mary) Shoemaker and Allison Shoemaker; and three step-great-grandchildren, Lauren Shoemaker, Emma Shoemaker, and Maciu Ramaqa.

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Micki; brother, Clifford Heard; sister, Inez Wilburn; brothers-in-law, Jim Wilburn and El Mixer; sister-in-law, Mary Heard; and son-in-law, Joseph Argiro.

A memorial service will be held at three o’clock on Friday, December 3rd, at the Mt. Lebanon Cemetery in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania.

Arrangements in Pittsburgh through H. P. Brandt Funeral Home, 412-364-4444.

Memories from Mary Shoemaker-Heard.....

It was in the year 1936, after the last depression, two girls, Murl “Mick” Montgomery and Mary Speck, daughters of two poor Indiana ministers, went off to Michigan to Owosso College, a small Christian two-year school. Owosso has since merged with Indiana Wesleyan College in Marion, Indiana.

The first week of school the girls found these two Harold’s, Harold Heard from Minnesota and Harold Shoemaker from New York. The boys both played trumpet in the band and sang in the school quartet, Heard singing tenor and Shoemaker bass. The four of them became the best of friends. Shoemaker was Harold Heard’s best man at the marriage of Mick and Harold in 1938 at the close of school.

They then went to Indiana to finish their Bachelor of Theology degrees at Anderson Theological Seminary in Anderson. They we both ordained in the United Brethren Church which eventually merged 1968 to become the United Methodist Church. (By the way, Mary Speck and Harold Shoemaker were married on June 21, 1939)

Harold Heard stayed in the business world, first at RCA in Indianapolis and excelled wherever he worked. The years followed with positions in New York State with Kellogg’s and textile mills in Greenville, South Carolina. His last twenty years in the business world were spent at Salem Corporation in Pittsburgh where he retired as the CEO.

Harold served churches on free weekends and he and Mick were mission-minded. They spent their retirement in “Finding a need and filling it.” They were in Panama, Haiti, Florida during Hurricane Andrew, and ended their life together on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1999.

In Hawaii, they established a pre-school at the Pu’ula Church Fellowship Hall and left a trust with the Hawaii Foundation. “Christ’s love and care will continue to flow into these needy children’s lives through this historic church and needy community.” Mick we she and Harold drove by this historic church, “Isn’t that the most beautiful little church?”

Harold’s pastoral care extended of a six year period in Hawaii. He found it difficult “going it alone.” He was reminded again and again of three of Mick’s last words, “Don’t forget Mary.” After a trip to a family reunion in Mexico in February 2000, he called Mary in Colorado Springs and asked, “Mary, may I come see you before I fly back to Hawaii?” That visit started a two-year courtship with many flights back and forth to Hawaii…attending the Colorado Springs Symphony with season tickets.

In March 2002, there was a wedding in the historic Pu’ula Church. Son, Rod, and his fiancée Sue Walker made it a double wedding! Forty-three family members and friends from the mainland made a beautiful wedding –each one wearing a lei. Harold was a family man – thanking God for them every day.

Harold and Mary had ten wonderful years together. Harold continued two more years of pasturing Pu’ula Church while they spent their summers in Colorado. During those final two years in Hawaii, they organized a Young Life youth group on the Island of Hawaii. Today around 40 young people gather at the Pu’ula Church Fellowship Hall on Wednesday nights for a meal, fun, and a devotional. Many youth go to summer camps in California; financed and led a by a devoted high school teacher, Ward, a member of the church.

In his last years in Colorado Springs, Harold taught a the Odds & Ends Sunday School Class at 1st United Methodist Church downtown. He loved to teach and averaged 35 to 40 seniors every Sunday…”and an excellent teacher was he.”

Harold Heard was a kind man. He had a smile for everyone. His favorite movie was “The Sound of Music.” Over the years, he loved to hear Julie Andrews sing, “Climb every mountain;” and he tried.

Harold’s life will live on. In one of his weekly letters to “Our Four”, he writes…

Life

Life is a gift to be used every day,

Not to be smothered and hidden away;

It isn't a thing to be stored in the chest

Where you gather your keepsakes and treasure your best;

It isn't a joy to be sipped now and then

And promptly put back in a dark place again.

Life is a gift that the humblest may boast of

And one that the humblest may well make the most of.

Get out and live it each hour of the day,

Wear it and use it as much as you may;

Don't keep it in niches and corners and grooves,

You'll find that in service its beauty improves.

Edgar A. Guest