James D. Heddens, D.P.M., Podiatrist Emeritus, crossed from this life to new life at the active age of 88 on October 14 in the beautiful Iowa River Hospice house surrounded by his children.

Jim was a pioneer in the early 1960s, the first podiatrist in Iowa to secure hospital surgical privileges in Davenport, Nevada, Marshalltown, Pella, and Newton. His determination opened the door for many podiatrists across the state to perform foot and ankle surgery in local hospitals. He later served as president of the Iowa Podiatric Medical Association, two terms on the Podiatry Examining Board, and many years in peer review. Throughout the 1980s and ’90s he sponsored numerous podiatric preceptorships, equipping new doctors to succeed and serve Iowans with excellence.

His Service extended beyond medicine. He earned a journeyman’s electrical license and renovated more than 100 affordable apartments and homes for Marshalltown families. He was a longtime member of Rotary and the Farm Bureau.

Married for 61 years, Jim and his late wife Joan, treasured their many friends, patients, staff, and renters. He brought exacting stewardship and responsibility for everyone in his care. A stickler for fairness, he balanced every gift among his children equally and lived with integrity. His grandchildren nicknamed him “The Charmer”, not for tact, but for his often-blunt authenticity, honesty and ready smile. His grandkids jockeyed to share shocking or surprising stories with him, just to hear his booming laugh. Always exploring, he was always up for a music festival, art fair, museum, car show or antiquing.

There was no guile, artifice, or deception in him, and we knew how rare he was. An exacting steward and very intentional with his resources and business dealings, he was never wasteful. He chose function over fancy in most purchases. He preferred the house wine, splitting meals, and flipping a coin for dinner to the amusement of his friends. He took careful time and researched intensely before making any large purchase. He admired the wealthy but simple living Warren Buffet.

Jim was a true Iowa boy, born at home in Charles city a decade younger than his three brothers. His father ran the typical family farm back then, raising Holstein milk cattle, Hereford beef cattle, hogs, chickens, as well as planting corn and soybeans. His mother Edith, a teacher from nearby Nashua, faithfully read the Bible and provided fresh beef for her sisters on most visits. Graduating from a classic one-room schoolhouse into Charles City High school, he played tackle in football, first baseman, and had some success wrestling. Weekends he would borrow his brother's big Harley and would rumble off to the iconic Surf ballroom for dancing and boating on Clear lake.

At Wartburg College in 1956, he studied pre-med, later transferring to the Illinois College of Podiatric Medicine. In Chicago, he met Joan, a vivacious blonde and unofficial student matchmaker from the Ray Vogue school of merchandising. She filled in for a no show, soon became the love of his life, and they married. Without student loans or financial help, Jim worked evenings and weekends to support them when they discovered they had a baby on the way! (the narrator Jennifer) Many days he wanted to quit school, but Joan made him hang on. Racing to and fro from his second baby Davids's birth to his exams marked an almost comical finish of those tough years. He gratefully graduated with his D.P.M. in 1962. Jim made a vow never to be that poor and struggling for survival again.

Founding a practice in Bettendorf, he sold it to a former classmate and moved his young family to booming Marshalltown into a home on West Main filled with climbing trees to the delight of his kids.

He promptly won hospital privileges and practices in the Quad cities, Pella, Nevada and Newton, but had to fight for surgical privileges at Marshalltown Hospital, winning them after 10 tenacious years. His nurse recalled his faithful follow-up calls after surgery and innovative infection-prevention techniques. His specialty instruments designed for the tiny bones of the foot often brought better outcomes than the larger tools used then for M.D.s. He built his office across from the hospital and ran a thriving practice, mentoring young podiatrists along the way.

Motivated by the lean years in Chicago, he began serving the community with the raw physical skills he learned on the farm. Following long days of surgery, he would come home for dinner, before leaving with his tools for repairs and maintenance of the plumbing, electrical, and appliances of his accumulating properties. He only spent rental income on his properties and lived solely from his podiatry income. He eventually bought the Crown complex and the Flower House on Main and created comfortable and affordable apartments and homes for hundreds of families. I have never seen anyone work harder, he responded promptly to every call for maintenance as if they were staying at the Hilton. We kids grew up helping to paint mow and clean his units.

He later earned his nickname, Captain when he bought and renovated a rustic showerless lake cottage at West Lake Okoboji, Joan laughingly named” Touch of Class” His happiest moments were spent speeding across the water in his Sea Ray or guiding his Seraca Sailboat into the sunset and beaching off Gull Point. With the kids grown, they sold and invested in an older 28-foot cabin yacht to tour up and down the winding Mississippi river, before selling for a lakeside condo and some jet ski fun in Clear Lake with neighboring friends from Marshalltown.

The call of the sea deepened after his kidney cancer surgery in 2000. Selling his practices, Jim focused on investing and winters in Sanibel Island with Joan. When he wasn't biking Island trails, he navigated the gulf waters in his fishing craft Joan dubbed, “the Tub”. The kids all loved boating to island eateries, looking for dolphins and beaching on tiny pelican islands. The best memories were with Pops, his Captains hat pulled tight as they raced through the chop bouncing wildly, waves spraying their faces as they waved at the fancy yachts. Though they traveled to Europe, Alaska, and Italy, their favorite moments were on Sanibel beaches, Chardonnay in hand, watching the sky flame at sunset.

He fought off prostate cancer in 2009, until it came roaring back a few years ago. We nicknamed him the rally man! He helped friends with finances and even worked alongside his son Dave to renovate and sell his final investment home in July. Between treatments, he visited his daughter's families, Jennifer in Virginia and Holly in Seattle as well as enjoying several family excursions. He biked with them in Sanibel Island, strolled waterfront in Punta Gorda, hiked Joshua Tree National Park in California, traveled to Galena to stay in the historic DeSoto hotel, and in September rode his electric bike with for two hours on local trails, stopped to greet swans at Riverside Cemetery, and rolled into the Flying Elbow for a hotdog. After losing Joan in 2020, he also relished dinners, day excursions, and Florida travels with his sweet bestie Lynda. Her fun-loving banter was a great complement to his sometimes-gruff stoicism.

He never stopped learning–reading three newspapers, tracking markets, debating ideas, meeting new people and hearing their stories. He wasn’t an optimist, but a rugged realist–always thinking, planning, protecting and yet always up for fun. He faced life with resolve, hard work, fairness, a spirit of curiosity, and laughter. Most of his 11 grandchildren made the journey home to their precious Pops this September to share with him how his life so meaningfully impacted and directed their paths in such powerful ways.

He is preceded in death by his wife, Joan Kearnaghan Heddens, parents, Engelke and Edith (Demro) Heddens; and brothers Ralph and Dick. He is survived by his very active almost 97-year-old brother Paul, (Pat) Heddens of Charles city, his cheerful companion Lynda Wolken, his children Jennifer (Steve) Cochrane of Richmond VA, David Heddens of Marshalltown, and Holly (Tim) Hanson of Seattle WA.; 11 grandchildren; and 4 great-grands. Following cremation, interment will be at Riverside Cemetery in Marshalltown. He requested memorials to be directed to Iowa River Hospice who cared for him this October. He stubbornly refused a funeral service, but agreed to a gathering for his friends and family at Tannin's where we can share a drink and swap stories. Of course he was against wasting money on a long obit, but we wanted his great grands to have this public record to someday understand our amazing patriarch.

We will all remember our Captain, our rally man, whenever the sun drops beneath the water, waves quieting on the shore. Thank you Dad, for this well lived legacy. Well done Dad, well done.

We ask his friends to please join us for a private event at Tannin's restaurant on Main street, this Sunday October 26th from 4 – 6.30 to celebrate him and raise a glass of chardonnay in his honor.