David George Hedglen

David George Hedglen, aged 88, passed away on Thursday, August 24, 2023 at an assisted living facility in Burleson, Texas. He was born on August 20, 1935, in Jackson, Michigan and grew up in depression era Dansville, Michigan until he signed on to join the United States Marines immediately after high school.

He was one of 6 brothers (Greg, James, John, Roger, and Dean - all who preceded him in death). They were raised by a single mom, Dorothea (Lynch) who died of cancer fairly young. Later in his lifetime, his dad, Rollan Hedglen, remarried and David gained 3 step-siblings.

Dave served in Korea during the last years of the war, and when he was discharged, he landed in California where he met the 1st love of his life, Marianne (Dunn). They married February 3, 1962 and had 5 children: Jennifer† (Bill Gorman), Rebecca (Bob Evart), Jeffery (Monika), Kenneth (Elise), and much later in life they had Matthew (Naomi). David was blessed with 12 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.

He moved his family to Holt, Michigan in the early 1970’s where their children mostly grew up, but then moved to Texas in 1981 because of a recession. Although he had been a lifelong Catholic, his faith really came alive in Texas after connecting with some relatives and becoming a member of St. Bartholomew’s Catholic Church. This new Dave showed more of his loving and giving character and he was a much happier person moving forward.

His life was filled with constantly doing something. He often worked at least 2 jobs at a time, doing a variety of things from being a custodian, an airport worker, a trainyard worker, and he eventually started his own business (Hedglen Services, Inc.) where, along with the whole family, he cleaned drive-in theaters, parking lots, offices, and even the county fair. He also brought his expertise to the classroom when he taught a course at the community college on janitorial cleaning methods. He always had a list of things to do and included his children in helping him accomplish them, much to their chagrin.

He loved creating things. He invented a large vacuum machine that sat on the back of a flatbed truck for the purpose of sucking up trash at the drive-in theaters and for picking up piles & piles of leaves along the curb in Michigan during the fall. He made innumerable open reel music tracks that he played throughout the house (with speakers wired into several rooms). He later converted these reels over to CDs and would give them away to anybody and everybody who loved music as much as he did. His music was even played on the Granbury Square downtown.

The most difficult event in his life was Marianne being diagnosed with cancer and after 2 terrible years fighting the disease, she died at age 50. That loss was especially difficult as his youngest son was only 11 years old (the other children lived away from home as they were in their 20’s). He worked through this loss by having a few short-lived relationships until he found the second love of his life in Tere (McCardel). He was able to spend almost 20 years with her until she also succumbed to cancer in 2019.

After this loss, he really wanted to go on to heaven, but that was not the Lord’s plan, yet. He was able to move to an independent living facility for a while until he needed more care. He moved into assisted living in 2021 as his health continued to take a toll on him. His children continuously helped him in whatever capacity they could. During this recent summer, it was evident that he needed even more care and was transferred into a memory care unit and eventually entered Hospice care. When his body had had enough, he passed very quickly on a Thursday evening after family members had just been to visit him.

Everyone who knew him remarked about how sweet he was, and he always had a quick remark or comment intent on making people laugh. He was the king of ‘dad jokes’, and basically had no filter when he was giving his opinion of a lady’s hair or the clothes she was wearing.

His son, Matthew stated, “He taught me patience and waiting on the Lord and to give grace because ‘vengeance is the Lord’s’”. He was always very concerned about what was happening in the lives of his family members and his most favorite day was any day that they would visit him. He remarked many times throughout his life that his great joy was when he met someone who knew one of his kids, because they always spoke so highly of his children.

Preceded in death by his wives Marianne Hedglen (Dunn) and Tere Hedglen (McCardel), his brothers Greg Hedglen, James Hedglen, John Hedglen, Roger Hedglen, Dean Hedglen, and step-brother Tom Hedglen, as well as his daughter, Jennifer Gorman.

He is survived by daughter Rebecca Evart, sons Jeffery, Kenneth, and Matthew Hedglen. Grandchildren: Joseph Gorman, Michael Gorman, Nathaniel Evart, Benjamin Evart, Andrew Hedglen, Alex Hedglen, Austin Hedglen, Abigail Hedglen, Zao Hedglen, Corban Hedglen, Cedar Hedglen, Lily Hedglen, and 3 great grandchildren: Joanna Evart, Elijah Evart, Ezra Hedglen (and another one on the way!)

Mass of Christian Burial will be September 25th at 10:00 am at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church 3601 Altamesa Fort Worth TX 76133. A celebration of life and lunch will follow in the hall. Internment will be at 2:00 pm at the Dallas Fort Worth National Cemetery 2000 Mountain Creek Parkway Dallas TX 75211.