M. Ermyn Heck

Ermyn Jewell Heck of Chestertown, Maryland passed away on September 4, 2005, at Chestertown Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. At the age of 102, she was the oldest living graduate of Washington College and one of the oldest living natives of Kent County. Born on her parents’ farm in Smithville (near Worton), Maryland on March 22, 1903, she was the daughter of the late, Theodore and Alberta Smith Jewell. She was the second of six children. Her mother chose the unusual name “Ermyn” from the title of a popular novel of the era. The family later moved to Worton where her father served as the postmaster, then to Chestertown where she graduated from Chestertown High School. While still in Worton, she rode to school in Chestertown in a horse-drawn buggy driven by her brother, Hyland. After the death of her mother in 1918, she became a caretaker and second mother to her three younger sisters, the youngest of whom was four at the time. In 1920 she enrolled in Washington College where she met Preston “Pete” Heck, her future husband. Mrs. Heck graduated from Washington College in 1924. In college, she was involved with the Mt. Vernon Literary Society, was an active member of the drama and music societies, and played on the women’s basketball team. Many of her fondest memories were of college days, especially dances and sing-a-longs at which Pete played guitar and everyone sang. In those days, she liked to recall, there were far more men than women on campus. “All the girls were very popular, with two dates for every dance.” From 1924 until 1939 she taught high school English in Millington, Chestertown, and Palmyra, NJ. In 1939 she returned to Chestertown and married Preston P. Heck. Until the 1960s she taught English and Latin at Chestertown High School, then Latin at Washington College, while raising her family. Her husband, a prominent local attorney and well-liked teacher at Washington College, died in 1969. Mrs. Heck was very active in both church and community. She was the first woman to serve on the Vestry at Emmanuel Episcopal Church (1970) and gave many years of service to the church as a Sunday School teacher, a Diocesan officer, a member of the choir, and a Delegate to the National Convention. She was Past President and historian of Washington College Women’s League. She was especially proud of helping to establish and serving as alumni advisor to the Washington College chapter of ZTA sorority. She loved getting to know the girls and became a familiar figure on campus. She was a member of Chester River Yacht and Country Club, and a past president of the Women’s Literary Society of Chestertown. She traveled widely, both with her husband and her sister Carolyn, visiting England, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Germany, and Hawaii. She always looked forward to her weekly game of bridge at the country club. A natural musician, she spent many hours playing the piano, both at home and on social occasions – usually old songs like “Show Me the Way to Go Home.” She is survived by two sons and their wives, Peter J. Heck and Jane Jewell, and Samuel L. and Barbara Heck, all of Chestertown, MD; two grandsons, Dan Heck of Naples, Florida and Preston (Pete) Heck II of Chestertown, MD; as well as many nieces and nephews, including Lew Heck of Severna Park, MD, and her namesake, Mary Ermyn Cooper of Moorestown, NJ. Services will be held on Friday, September 9, 2005 at Emmanuel Episcopal Church at 11:00 A.M., with a reception immediately following in the church hall. Interment will be in Chester Cemetery. There will also be visiting hours at Fellows, Helfenbein and Newnam Funeral Home in Chestertown, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM on Thursday, September 8. Contributions in her memory may be sent to the Eastern Shore Alzheimer''s Association, 213 West Main Street, Suite 205, Salisbury, MD 21801-4871 or Washington College, Washington Street, Chestertown, MD 21620. Arrangements by Fellows, Helfenbein and Newnam Funeral Home, P.A., Chestertown, Maryland.