Mark Heindselman

Mark J. Heindselman

Mark J. Heindselman, age 72, of Cedar Rapids, formerly of Marshalltown, with his family surrounding him, went to be with the Lord on Saturday, March 1, 2025 while at St. Luke’s Hospital. Memorial services for Mark will be held on Saturday, March 29, 2025 at 2:30 p.m. at the Mitchell Family Funeral Home in Marshalltown. Visitation with the family will start an hour and a half prior to the service at 1:00 p.m. The family requests that you be comfortable by wearing attire in support of your favorite sports team, rock ‘n’ roll band, or Disney film. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund will be established. The family will direct the memorials at a later date. For more information or to send a condolence, please visit www.mitchellfh.com or call 641-844-1234. Mitchell Family Funeral Home is caring for Mark and his family.

Mark J. Heindselman was born in Huntington, Indiana on November 22, 1952, son of Gerald and Gene Anne (Stonebreaker) Heindselman. He grew up in Marion, South Bend and Elkhart, IN where Mark graduated from Jimtown High School in 1971. Upon graduating he headed to Manchester College but after 2 years he enlisted in the Airforce where he was stationed in Germany as a technical Sergeant. Upon exiting the Airforce he went to Indiana Purdue at Indianapolis receiving his BA degree in Political Science. Then attending Ball State University where he received his Masters degree in Library Science.

During his time at Manchester, Mark was introduced to his roommate’s sister, Jo Starkey. They were married in August of 1977 in Galveston, IN. In the fall of 1979, Mark, Jo, and their Little Black Kitty moved to Marshalltown where Mark would start his tenure of 42 years at Fisher Controls – now Emerson Process Management, and he would also become a member of Center Street Baptist Church. While married, the Lord blessed them with two daughters, Carly and Lindsay. In May of 2009, Mark’s favorite person, his grandson, Holden J. Rice, was born. Mark remarried in November 2015 to Deb Salzwedel. Throughout his years at Fisher Controls/Emerson Process Management, Mark wore many hats. He started as the librarian of the information center and retired on May 1, 2022 as the Director of Knowledge Network and Information Services.

Mark was full of life, and he made life fun. He was a kind, caring, hard-working, and generous husband, father, “Papa”, friend and co-worker. Over the years he enjoyed being a host to many BBQs and get togethers at his home. Mark loved music, especially rock ‘n’ roll from the late 60s, 70s, & early 80s. He and Deb enjoyed going to several concerts together to see many different musical artists. Mark liked to travel. He enjoyed visiting old Civil War battle grounds around the US. Disney World in Florida opened in October 1971, and 2 months later Mark, his parents, and his sister visited there for the first time. It was then that the Heindselman family love for Disney World started and has been passed down with numerous multi-generational trips together to “The Most Magical Place on Earth”. Mark had been a member of the PT Cruiser Club of Central Iowa where he participated in many car shows and won many awards for his “tricked out” PT Cruiser. Mark enjoyed watching reruns of The Three Stooges, MASH, Whose Line is it Anyways, Star Trek, the James Bond and Avengers movies, and passed his love for the Star Wars movies onto Holden.

Mark enjoyed sports including playing football in high school and watching football. He was a season ticket holder and cheered whole-heartedly for his favorite team, the Iowa Hawkeyes. Mark was very proud of his nephews and would travel back to Jimtown to watch them play throughout their high school football careers. Throughout his adult life, Mark played early morning racquetball at the local YMCA with friends, rode RAGBRI for a couple of years but then golf became a favorite endeavor and gave him great memories with John Klein and friends. He was also a coach for his daughters’ high school city softball teams. Mark enjoyed watching NASCAR and even attended a few of the races – always cheering on whatever driver would be driving the #24 that year, but especially Jeff Gordon.

Mark will be greatly missed and is survived by his wife Deb; children: Carly Heindselman (Jeff Oetker), Grundy Center, IA; Lindsay (Scott) Rice, Marshalltown; Grandchildren: Holden J. Rice; Peytience Rice (Jordan Banes); Deb’s children: Stacia (Dusty) Fee of Peoria, IL and their children: Miles, Bryce, and Caroline; Jessica Salzwedel (Jaime Hasselbusch), Cedar Rapids; Mark’s sister: Natalie Ann (Allen) Johnson of Bonita Springs, FL; and nephews: Adam, Zach and Nate Johnson and their families; along with Mark & Deb’s cat, Thomas.

Mark was preceded in death by his parents.