T. Lee Heckle

Call her Lee. Call her Mama Lee. Call her Mrs. Heckle. Just don’t call her Thelma.

Thelma was the name she was born with. Lee was the name she chose. The one who served as a second mother to her younger brother. The one who stood by her husband’s side for seven decades. The one that became synonymous with grace, kindness, and love.

Thelma Lee (Berkley) Heckle died on June 20th, 2026, surrounded by family and loved ones. Her passing came less than 18 months after the death of Art Heckle, her husband of 73 years. Together, the two raised 4 children and served as an example of what a loving, supportive marriage should be.

To her 5 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren, she was Mama Lee. A grandmother with an illuminating smile, a cabinet always stocked with orange soda, and a never-ending quest for the best garage sales.

Lee was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on October 12, 1935. She would often say that nothing in her childhood was normal. Born into poverty and what would become a broken family, Lee spent much of her youth raising herself and her younger brother James.

Time away from the city was their solace. The two made frequent trips to the country, where they spent formative summers with Uncle Aaron and Aunt Maxine - who they viewed as their second parents - along with their grandmother, Mama Blanche.

Despite the instability, there were few students who could match Lee’s intelligence. She skipped the first semester of 1st grade and was placed in the second semester of 2nd grade. She graduated from Soldan-Blewett High School early, at just 16 years old.

Lee and Art married shortly after, on August 20th, 1951. Their bond will always be the pride of their family. Both Lee and Art were children of divorce. Both had stories of loud discussions and flying mashed potatoes. Both knew they wanted something different.

Instead, Lee protected her family from a lifetime of hardships. Art fought to create a better life than what they knew. Lee would often say, “he saved me.” In reality, they saved each other.

Lee and Art had their first child, Virginia, in 1953. Art didn’t meet her until 9 months later, when he returned from the frontlines of the Korean War. Shellshocked from his service, Art’s superiors allowed him to return home for 30 days during his discharge process. “They sent him home to me,” is what Lee would say. Their family still holds Art’s wartime love letter, stained with her tears.

Lee and Art moved their three children, Virginia, Vickie, and Cindy, to Des Moines in 1961. Their son, Christopher, was born in 1965. Lee’s children were her world. She would spend hours behind the sewing machine, making clothes for Barbie dolls and hemming dozens of uniforms for the Dowling Stepperettes Drill Team. From softball games to tennis matches to her grandchildren’s band concerts, Mama Lee’s smile always cut through the crowd.

While she didn’t admit it until years later, Lee hated cooking. When she and Art moved out of a home they had stayed in for 5 years, the buyers discovered that the oven had never been plugged in. Lee never complained. She would always have dinner on the table when Art got home - save for one night when the meatloaf wound up in the kitchen sink.

Lee balanced it all while working full-time for most of her life. After years as a teaching associate, Lee spent the latter half of her career working as a secretary and office manager, including at the Des Moines City Manager’s Office.

Lee enjoyed keeping the family on the cutting edge of trendy. With an eye for fashion and interior design, Lee’s décor and clothing were always the envy of her long list of decades-old friends. It was a passion fueled by one of her favorite pastimes: shopping.

“Garage Sale Here” was her sign to brake hard and turn sharply. Luckily for her passengers, her right arm was attached to her braking foot. It would swing out as a safety bar, keeping you from hitting the dashboard (even if it took your breath away).

But for Lee, it was about the experience over the items. It was about summer days in her Corvair, with her son standing between the seats. It was about the smiles on her grandchildren’s faces after they uncovered a new toy. It was the bellows of laughter during countless dinners surrounded by family.

As the children grew up, Lee and Art filled their days with time spent with close friends and adventures. They played golf, tennis, bridge, and bowling (Lee was even awarded a golden pin). They skied mountains in Colorado and sailed the Caribbean Sea. They went to Halloween parties dressed as members of the Beatles, and to the dismay of their adult children, a clown.

Still, it was in times of hardship that Lee’s grace shone through. In 1995, Art and Lee lost Virginia to cancer. It’s a loss that no one gets over. But in the hardest moment of her life, Lee was still filled with kindness and support for those grieving alongside her.

That’s who she was, consistently herself. As Lee - she was a kind and gracious friend. As Mrs. Heckle, she was a supportive and dedicated wife. As Mama Lee - she was a gentle and caring grandmother. She lived without regret, with a heart filled with love and a soul full of passion.

Just don’t call her Thelma.

Lee was preceded in death by her husband, Art; her daughter, Virginia (Tim) Mikkelsen, and her brother Jim.

She is survived by her children; Vickie (Nick) DeFino, Cindy Heckle and Christopher (Julie) Heckle; grandchildren Mandy (Jon) Falbo, Ben (Lea) Mikkelsen, Anji (Mark) McCormick; Michael (Mary) Heckle, Emily (Nick) Gallo; and her great-grandchildren Giovanni and Bishop Falbo; Matilda and Rowan Mikkelsen; and Liam, Aria, Gabe, Serafina, Niko, Lochlan, Rafael, Magdalena and Ophelia McCormick.

Please join us on Wednesday, July 15th, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. for a Celebration of Life honoring Art & Lee Heckle at Firecreek Grill - 800 S. 50th St, Ste 110, West Des Moines, IA 50265.