Wayne Elwood Heemstra, 82, died Monday, Aug. 23, 2010, in Casa Grande, Arizona. Burial of cremated remains will be in Fort Meade National Cemetery in Sturgis, South Dakota.
He was born March 8, 1928, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to Bert and Martha Pearl (Smith) Heemstra. He attended school in Pine River. He was in the Merchant Marines during World War II. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and served during the Korean Conflict. He was honorably discharged in 1951. He and his brother, Delvan, owned and operated Heemstra Brothers Forest Products in Cass Lake. Later he took over ownership as Heemstra Forest Products. He moved to South Dakota where he worked for Wheelers and operated his own sawmill.
He is survived by his sons, David Heemstra, of Whitewood, South Dakota, and Dale Heemstra, of Spearfish, South Dakota; a granddaughter, Wanda; sisters, Eileen Graby, of Lusby, Maryland, and Maxine Armstrong, of Sullivan, Wisconsin; brothers, Milton Heemstra, of Salinas, California, and Delvan (Mary) Heemstra, of Cass Lake.
He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Dennis Heemstra, of Pine River.
