Carey, Charles Henry.  "History of Oregon." Vol. 3. Chicago-Portland: Pioneer
Historical Pub. Co., 1922.  p. 388.
 
FATHER JOSEPH CHARLES HEESAKER

     Typically representative of that devout body of the clergy to whom from
early youth the church has been law and life, a man true to his high conceptions
of the ecclesiastical responsibilities of his calling, Father Joseph Charles
Heesaker, the superintendent of St. Mary's Home for Boys near Beaverton, has
also justified the solidarity of his Holland ancestry by the stanch, consistent
earnestness of his short career.  He is the son of Anthony and Anna Marie (De
Grott) Heesaker.  The former came as a youth from the Netherlands to America and
settled in Wisconsin where, by dint of native industry and thrift, he became a
respected man in his community, whose appreciation of his integrity was evinced
in its choice of him as treasurer of Brown county.  He served as a private under
Rosencranz in the Civil war.  In 1880, taking his little family with him, he
emigrated to Oregon and purchased a farm which he cleared and operated in
partnership with his sons until his death in 1890.  Though denied the advantages
of early education Mr. Heesaker was an intensive reader who succeeded through
hard study in obtaining a fund of information and a breadth of vision which
would have done credit to a man of larger opportunities.  He had five sons and
five daughters in his family, all of whom have survived him and are living in
Washington county.  They are:  M. F.; Bernard A.; John J.; Henry E.; Joseph C.
of this sketch; Mrs. Antoine Meeusen; Mrs. August Dierick, Mrs. Isador
Vanderzanden; and Misses Christina and Ann Heesaker.
     Joseph C. Heesaker was born in Washington county, Oregon, in 1890, and was
educated in the grade schools of his native county.  He thereafter worked five
years on the home farm and then entered Mt. Angel College.  Upon his graduation
with the degree of A. B. he decided to take up the holy orders and subsequently
entering the St. Patrick's Seminary at Menlo Park, California, he was ordained a
priest of the Roman Catholic church in 1919, and was then appointed assistant to
Mons. Rauw, the superintendent of the St. Mary's Home for Boys, near Beaverton.
In October of the same year Father Rauw died and Father Heesaker was appointed
to succeed him.
     St. Mary's Home for Boys was founded in 1889 by Archbishop Gross.  It is
located at St. Mary's, Oregon, about a mile from Beaverton.  Of three hundred
and twenty acres of land belonging to the Home more than half has already been
cleared.  The steam and electric lines of the Southern Pacific Railroad pass on
one side of the property and the Oregon Electric line on the other.  The Home
has a large airy building with accommodation for one hundred and forty boys,
with schoolrooms, laundry, bakery and large adjacent buildings.  A new edifice
to be devoted to gymnasium and dormitory purposes with additional space for
forty boys is in process of erection at the present time.  The home is open to
orphans, semi-orphans and dependents from the Juvenile Court between the ages of
six and fourteen years.  The course of instruction is equivalent to the grammar
grades of the public schools and offers in addition industrial, agricultural and
manual training.  A per capita allowance of sixteen dollars is made by the
state.
     Fifteen assistants, of whom five are teachers, are responsible to Father
Heesaker, whose youth makes his excellent administration of so important an
institution the more admirable.  Young, active and enthusiastic he makes himself
the friend of every boy in the Home.  A noteworthy athlete in his college days
he is able to coach the football and baseball teams and even to take his place
on either of them if occasion demands.  He is necessarily something of a
disciplinarian, but his kindliness obviates harshness.  Father Heesaker is also
the chaplain of St. Mary's Institute, a boarding school for girls conducted by
the Sisters of St. Mary whose property adjoins that of the Home.
     Father Heesaker has won the respect of all the people of Washington county
who realize that precept and practice are consistently exemplified in his life
and that under his guidance the boys in St. Mary's home are learning as they
grow to manhood obedience to the moral law as given by the Master and that they
are being trained to the ideals of good citizenship.
 
Transcriber's additional notes:
 
Death Certificate Transcription
Oregon Death Cert. #38
Reverend Joseph C. Heesaker; male, white, single
Residence:  Woodburn, Oregon
Occupation:  Roman Catholic Priest; Catholic Church; 21 years in this occupation
Date last worked:  December 1939
Birth:  March 26, 1890; Verboot, Oregon
Death:  January 4, 1940; St. Vincent Hospital; Portland, Multnomah Co., Oregon
Age at death:  49y, 9m, 8d
Cause:  Broncho pneumonia; chronic myocarditis; hypertension; chronic nephritis
Burial:  Mt. Calvary Cemetery; January 8, 1940
Undertaker:  Hennessey, Goetsch & McGee
Parents:  Anthony Heesaker b Holland; Anna Marie Diergoot b Holland
Informant:  Christiana Heesaker; Woodburn, Or.

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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in October 2005 by Diana Smith.  Submitter
has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.