Walker-Eastman-Heydinger Funeral Home
98 W. Main St.
Norwalk, OH 44857
Phone: 419.663.4513
Fax: 419.663.6809
Cell Phone: 419.663.3504
Email: wehfh@eastmanfuneralhome.com
Website: https://www.eastmanfuneralhome.com/norwalk
View All Obituaries from Walker-Eastman-Heydinger Funeral Home
Mary Martha Hettel, 98, of Norwalk, passed away Saturday afternoon, November 10, 2018 at home with her family at her side.
She was born December 8, 1919 in Monroeville, Ohio to the late Charles John (Carl) Schaffer and Martha Clara (Pheiffer) Schaffer.
She was a 1938 graduate of Monroeville High School and a member of St. Paul Catholic Church in Norwalk.
The oldest of 10 siblings, she helped her family on their Coniehill farm outside Monroeville with tasks including plowing with horses, milking cows, and growing vegetables. After high school, she worked as a housekeeper for a number of families in the 1930s and 40s.
Mary returned to farming when she married Donald Joseph Hettel on August 17, 1948. On the Hettel family farm just outside of Norwalk, they raised hogs, sheep, and chickens and grew soft red winter wheat, oats, clover hay, corn and soybeans. In the kitchen, she particularly enjoyed baking cakes and cookies and canning and freezing produce from a plentiful vegetable garden.
With several hundred laying hens always on the farm, she organized and managed a thriving egg-selling business from the house, which at its peak attracted more than 100 regular weekly customers to the door. Her egg business was featured in the Norwalk Reflector during the mid-1960s.
She lived in the same red-brick farm house on the farm for more than 70 years, 49 of those years with her husband, Donald.
Mary is survived by two sons, Eugene (Aurora) Hettel of Calamba, Philippines, and Jerome Hettel of Norwalk; and three grandchildren, Christopher (Katherine) Hettel of Suva, Fiji; Maria Hettel currently with the U.S. Peace Corps in Ghana, West Africa; and Matthew Hettel of Calamba, Philippines. She is also survived by sisters, Mildred (Arden) Miller, Carolyn (Eldon) Mench, and Rosemary Schaffer; and brother, Vincent (Mary Ann) Schaffer; and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.
She was preceded in death by her husband Donald in 1997 and parents; brothers, Paul (Dorothy) Schaffer, Carl (JoAnn) Schaffer, Jr.; and sisters, Dolores (Willard) Miller, Elnora (Leander) Bores, and Dorothy Schaffer.
Friends may call from 4 to 7 pm on Wednesday, November 14, 2018, at the Walker-Eastman-Heydinger Funeral Home, 98 West Main St., Norwalk, OH. Funeral mass, officiated by Msgr. Kenneth G. Morman, will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 15, 2018, at St. Paul Catholic Church, 91 East Main Street, Norwalk, OH. Burial will follow at St. Paul Catholic Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to St. Paul Catholic Church, 91 East Main St., Norwalk, OH 44857; Norwalk Catholic Schools, 93 East Main St. Norwalk, OH 44857, and Stein Hospice, 1200 Sycamore Line, Sandusky, OH 44870.
Online condolences may be made by going to www.edwalkerfuneralhome.com
