Losing a pillar

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After 67 years of serving the community, Irv Heath is moving away

Irving M. Heath, 95, moved to Noblesville in 1946. On May 9 he left the place he called home for almost 70 years to be closer to his children.

“I hate it. I love Noblesville,” he said. “I loved every day.”

During his time in the city, Heath ran an insurance agency for almost 50 years, helped create the Noblesville Boys & Girls Club, served as a precinct councilman for 18 years, was an active Lions Club member and had his hands in countless other projects and programs.

“When he decided to settle here he became a part of the community and is a pillar,” said Rollin Cutter, Noblesville resident and Lions Club member. “He really has done a lot of things for Noblesville behind the scenes that may not have been created to him.”

Greatest generation

Heath graduated high school in 1937 in Worcester, Mass. His class size was 882 and he said he was “tired of being a number” so he wanted to attend a small college and was accepted to DePauw University in Greencastle.

“I had never been west of the Hudson River,” he said.

Early in his freshman year, Heath met fellow DePauw student Rachel Waltz of Arcadia. After graduating from college, Heath returned to Worcester to begin a job with a pharmaceutical manufacturer selling products on the road. On Dec. 7, 1941, Health heard the news of the Pearl Harbor bombing from his minister.

“The next day I quit my job and joined the U.S. Army,” he said. “I didn’t even know where Pearl Harbor was.”

Heath graduated from Officer Candidate School in August 1942. His father officiated the service when he married Waltz on Sept. 5, 1942 in Waterfront, N.Y. The couple was married for 68 years before Waltz died on Oct. 28, 2010.

Heath served as a 2nd Lt. in the 35th Tank Battalion in the Fourth Armored Division. While in Bastogne, Belgium, Heath was struck by a shell when he checked on the health of his tank driver outside the vehicle. His injury occurred on Dec. 27, 1944 – the last day of the Battle of the Bulge.

“The shell went under my knee. It picked me up and threw me 20 feet,” he said.

After spending two months in the hospital, Heath spent returned to his battalion and remained in Europe after the war as part of the army of occupation. He was overseas for 21 months and awarded nine medals for his service, including a Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts and the WWII Victory Medal.

Starting a new home

After the war, Heath and his wife spent a month with his parents in Boston and then a month with hers in Arcadia.

“Burt Cresson was looking for a young man to teach insurance,” Heath said of his start in Noblesville.

After a heart attack just two years in business together, Heath partnered with Cresson’s widow to split Cresson and Heath Insurance Agency. He ran the business for 43 years.

Heath and his wife settled down at 1811 Conner St. where the two lived for 63 years and raised their three children.

“When I came to Noblesville in 1946, I’d walk around the square and everyone knows everyone. A person would stop me and ask me who I was. They didn’t want to know your name but your connection to Noblesville,” he said.

The city was quite different then as the population was 5,000 people compared to more than 52,000 today.

“We lived 18 blocks from downtown Noblesville but across the street from me was an active farm with sheep and cattle. Now it’s a shopping center,” Heath said.

Heath said he will miss downtown Noblesville the most.

“The courthouse square looks so good,” he said. “You drive around Indiana and there are so many courthouse squares that are run down or the stores are vacant. The square looks great and building owners all keep up.”

Building the club

Heath was one of the original organizers of the Noblesville Boys & Girls Club and served on the board of directors for 40 years. Shortly after getting established in the city, Heath said he was approached by the mayor to serve on a committee to fund a youth group. Heath said the first prospect was the YMCA but the organization leaders said it would cost $200,000 to construct a new facility.

“In 1948, $200,000 was $2 million today,” he said, adding the Boys Club leaders surprised the committee with its simplicity. “They said, ‘you’ve already got a board of directors and just need to find a building or old home and you’ve got a Boys Club started.’”

After Firestone assisted with the fundraising, the committee raised $48,000 and began work on the new club on the third floor above Kirk’s Hardware store in downtown Noblesville. Heath said the club spent $20,000 remodeling the building and $10,000 for equipment and plumbing.

“In 1952 we had 1,000 members walking up and down to the third floor,” he said.

The club remained there for 18 years before moving to the old high school on Conner Street.

Impacting others

Noblesville First United Methodist Church member Julia Kozicki said she’s known Heath most of her life.

“He has been a stall worth supporter of our church, our schools and the children in the community,” she said. “He has just done everything for Noblesville. Truly he is an architect of Noblesville. We will miss him greatly but are awful lucky to have known him.”

Heath also was involved with helping Noblesville First United Methodist Church move to its current spot. Previously it was at the corner of Clinton and North 10th Street.

“We bought it and tore it down,” he said, adding the congregation sold the previous buildings bricks to help pay for the new one on East Monument Street.

Common Council President Mark Boice said when he was working on his Eagle Scout project as a boy it was Heath that assisted him in financing the project.

“I talked with Irv before I became the Noblesville Chamber of Commerce president and he gave me my first donation when I ran for common council,” Boice said. “He’s done a ton of really good things to shape this community into a really good place. I’m sure there are a handful of people throughout the city like me that he’s helped back in some way or another.”


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