Margaret “Margie” (Knedgen) Heckler (1913-1984) was born to Frank Blaise and Clara Theresa (Young) Knedgen on May 6, 1913 in Seldia, MO. She was one of at ten children. Frank worked as a carpenter and Clara kept house. The family moved to Kansas when Margie was around two years old. On September 12, 1942, Margie married Maurice May in Stueben, IN; however, the couple was divorced by March 22, 1946. On April 1, 1946, Margie married John Albert Heckler, the son of Albert Wesley and Maggie (Mitchell) Heckler, in Genesee, MI. The couple remained in Michigan for a number of years before moving to Louisville. John was a truck mechanic for the Hall Construction Co. and Margie kept house. While the couple never had children, they were aunt and uncle to a host of nieces and nephews.
In their later years, the couple lived on College Court, a complex that was owned by Louisville Metro Housing Authority in the Limerick Neighborhood. On June 7, 1982 John died at their home at the age of 72. He was buried in Section 3, Row 1, Grave 21 of Eastern Cemetery. On April 5, 1984, Margie was in her apartment on College Court when it caught fire. She died 15 days later in the burn unit at Humana Hospital. She was 83 years old. She was buried next to her husband and they share a headstone. According to “Courier-Journal” article about the fire, “Ms. Heckler is the fourth person injured in the past months in fires in housing-project apartments where officials say smoke detectors—required by law to be in place—had not been maintained.” The photo of Margie and her siblings is from Find a Grave user Mary Jo Schleicher.
