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Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Thursday, February 18, 2016 from 10:00 to 11:00 AM, followed immediately by a Funeral Service in the chapel of the funeral home at 11:00 AM. Interment will follow at Laurel Grove Memorial Park, Totowa.
August "Gus" J. Heisler, age 92, of Wayne and Saint Augustine, Florida, passed peacefully on Saturday, February 13, 2016.
August “Gus” Heisler, Jr., age 92, of St. Augustine, FL and formerly of Wayne, died on Saturday, February 13, 2016. His passing was one day before Valentine’s Day and his family can’t help but think that he just wanted to be reunited with his special valentine – his beloved wife Shirley May. She passed away just one month before him on January 14, 2015.
Gus was born and raised in Clifton. While attending School Number 11 on Christie Ave., he met Shirley Weber for the first time. He was immediately struck by her beauty! While she was playing hop-scotch with some other girls on the playground, Gus tried to get her attention by bopping her in the head with a stone. Needless to say, this was not a great idea and it ended up with a meeting between Gus and Shirley’s parents – Mr. and Mrs. Weber. Poor Gus’ plan to make an impression ended up with the opposite kind of an impression he was shooting for. Their paths parted when Shirley moved to Nutley, but they would someday cross again.
As a young boy, Gus learned the value and satisfaction received from a well-disciplined, hard working life style. Every day, when he got home from school, he did his homework, peeled the vegetables for that night’s supper, and then went to work in his dad’s tool and die shop – Heisler Machine and Tool Company.
Upon his graduation from high school Gus worked for his father before he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in May of 1944. In the beginning of his service time, he was stationed in Portsmouth, Massachusetts where the USS Irex submarine was being built. Upon its completion, the engineers were having difficulty getting the sub to pass its sea trials in which the vessels compressors needed to be able to reach pressures of 3000 PSI before it could be deemed seaworthy. Gus thought he knew what was causing the problem and, with the permission of the chief of the boat, he took a crack at a solution. Utilizing the knowledge, he gained growing up in his father’s machine shop, Gus was able to determine that the pistons in the compressor used to build up the pressure, were pitted. Once the pistons were repaired, the Irex passed the sea trials with flying colors. Gus fixed the problem that no one else could figure out! He was recognized and thanked for his efforts and expertise by the submarine’s captain. To Gus, the commendation was a great honor! In total, Gus proudly served for two years in the Navy until, in 1946, while in the Panama Canal, the war ended and he returned home to civilian life.
One night after the war, Shirley’s cousin saw Gus’ car at a dance club called the Cliftonia. She alerted Shirley and the two of them went to make his acquaintance. Gus was more than pleased! They started dating but Gus had a hard time getting to first base with Shirley because Fred Weber, her father was, let’s just say, not very accepting of Gus. Surely this harkened back to that hop-scotch encounter in elementary school. Not to be dissuaded by this challenge, Fred and Gus’ relationship actually started to warm up when Shirley’s father learned that Gus had a case of low brass shot gun shells. You see, that’s when these two men discovered something that they had in common - a love of hunting. A case of shot gun shells was an exciting prospect to Fred because of that love of hunting, but, with the second world war going on, shot-gun shells were in short supply. After that, Gus and Fred actually became good buddies, often hunting and fishing together on Gus’ parents farm in Callicoon, NY.
It was on that Callicoon, NY, 80-acre farm on a beautiful day in 1948 that a local pastor united Shirley and Gus into the holy bonds of matrimony. After the wedding ceremony, their family and friends helped the newlyweds celebrate with a grand reception at the beautifully restored barn with a bar from the prohibition era. They honeymooned at the nearby Olympia Hotel. They settled in under the same roof for the first time, moving into the attic apartment of Gus’ parents’ house on 3rd Street in Clifton. Gus’ father’s machine shop was right behind that house so he didn’t have a long commute to work. While Shirley took care of their three beautiful children, Gus worked in the family business. A few years later Gus’ father moved to Florida and Gus and his older brother Ray opened a new manufacturing plant on Passaic Ave. in Fairfield. Meanwhile Gus moved his family into their first home on Broad Street. Soon after that, in 1961, they moved to the Pines Lake section of a newly developing section of Wayne.
Gus and his brother Ray took Heisler Machine and Tool Company to astronomical heights – literally! They were incredibly talented engineers and it didn’t take long before the U.S. Government approached them to manufacture aeronautical parts and equipment including nickel steel alloy combustion chambers, exhaust cones for rocket engines, and the first 12 basses for the first satellite to orbit the earth, as well as stainless steel plates for nuclear reactors and test fixtures. In other words, the items manufactured by Heisler went to the moon! In self-deprecating fashion, the Heisler family joke was that Heisler stuff wasn’t worth much so they left it on the moon. A lot of that equipment will forever stay on the moon. Gus and Ray also developed a machine for the textile industry which collated, folded, and inserted ladies’ dress patterns into retail packages. They built machines and dyes that were utilized in some of the first successful hip replacements as well as machinery for the paint industry which automatically inserted preformed metal handles on paint cans. During the design and manufacturing process, an innovative concept of automatically feeding wire from a spool into a machine and then cutting, forming, and inserting the paint can handle directly on the can developed. This technology was patented as the Bail-O-Matic machine and it revolutionized packaging in the paint industry. Gus semi-retired in his sixties and retired all-together in 1992. After retirement, he and Shirley moved to St. Augustine, Florida but, even to this day, Heisler Industries remains in the family under the very capable management of Gus’ two nephews Rick and Ron Heisler. Gus was a businessman of great integrity. He was incredibly generous to his employees blessing them with holiday gift baskets with hams and holiday treats, bonuses as well as the opportunity for profit-sharing within the company. If one of them was hurt and the insurance company wouldn’t cover all the expenses, it was not unusual for Gus to cover the difference out of his own pocket.
Gus and Shirley made friends wherever they went including those at the North Jersey Country Club and when they moved permanently to Florida, they became members of the Plantation Country Club. They made very good friends within the comunity. Gus and Shirley made a great team. Together they were blessed to travel the world to destinations including Africa, Alaska, Bora Bora, all of Western Europe, in fact every continent in the world except Antarctica. For over ten years, they had the joy of taking the whole family to the Colony in Long Boat Key, Florida.
Gus was just such a loving father! His son August, III and daughters Shirley and Judy were so blessed to call him Dad. He went to all of August’s sporting activities and all of Judy and Shirley’s girl activities. He taught his son how to hunt and fish as a very little boy by putting him on his shoulders, carrying him across rivers and, while sitting in the snow, helping him shoot his first deer. Gus laughed a little when his son struggled to try and pull the deer out of the woods. Then he helped him. August also remembers caribou hunting with Dad near the Arctic Circle. The kids always looked up to him for the great example of being a hard worker and they have vivid memories of him watching television with them at night with blueprints for a job from work spread out all over the coffee table in front of the TV.
The Pine’s Lake community of Wayne was blessed to have Gus and Shirley living in their community. They were always so willing and able to help out with the annual 4th of July and Labor day picnics. They also enjoyed playing in the Thursday night bowling league at T-Bowl and the kids loved it too because they could count on that being the night Dad and Mom were definitely out – a good night for them to cut up. Gus was so incredibly outgoing no matter where he went. Always giving hugs and kisses to everyone, but Shirley never worried about Gus’ heart wandering because he loved her with such passion and sensitivity. Her Alzheimer’s never caused Gus’ love for Shirley to wain – in fact it just made it stronger. He faithfully promised to stay healthy and strong for her and he stood by her side lovingly caring for her as only the best husband could do. When she passed away a month ago, a big part of Gus passed away too. Now they got to spend Valentine’s Day together again and are reunited for eternity.
Gus was predeceased by his beloved wife of 68 years, Shirley May Heisler just a month ago on January 14, 2016. He is survived by one son: August J. Heisler, III of Ponte Verde, Florida; two daughters: Shirley L. and husband Jack Howard of Frenchtown, NJ, and Judy H. and husband Jack Morgan of Charlotte, North Carolina; eight grandchildren: Michael Ryan Holcomb, Kimberly Holcomb-Cooper, Jack Calvin Morgan, Carter August Morgan, Clayton Weber Morgan, August J. Heisler IV, Brendan Heisler and Thorsen Heisler; eleven great-grandchildren: Mackenzie, Aidan, Morgan, Rylie, Hunter, Caroline, Addison, Jack, Maddox, Charlotte, and James; and his brother Robert and wife Linda Heisler of Bernardsville and Naples, FL. He was also predeceased by his brother and business partner Raymond Heisler.
In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy in August’s name are asked to consider the Alzheimer’s Association, 400 Morris Ave., Suite 251, Denville, NJ 07834 (www.alz.org/nj).
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Thursday, February 18, 2016 from 10:00 to 11:00 AM, followed immediately by a Funeral Service in the chapel of the funeral home at 11:00 AM. Interment will follow at Laurel Grove Memorial Park, Totowa.
Services
Friends may visit with the family at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne, on Thursday, February 18, 2016 from 10:00 to 11:00 AM, followed immediately by a Funeral Service in the chapel of the funeral home at 11:00 AM. Interment will follow at Laurel Grove Memorial Park, Totowa.
August "Gus" J. Heisler, age 92, of Wayne and Saint Augustine, Florida, passed peacefully on Saturday, February 13, 2016.
August “Gus” Heisler, Jr., age 92, of St. Augustine, FL and formerly of Wayne, died on Saturday, February 13, 2016. His passing was one day before Valentine’s Day and his family can’t help but think that he just wanted to be reunited with his special valentine – his beloved wife Shirley May. She passed away just one month before him on January 14, 2015.
Gus was born and raised in Clifton. While attending School Number 11 on Christie Ave., he met Shirley Weber for the first time. He was immediately struck by her beauty! While she was playing hop-scotch with some other girls on the playground, Gus tried to get her attention by bopping her in the head with a stone. Needless to say, this was not a great idea and it ended up with a meeting between Gus and Shirley’s parents – Mr. and Mrs. Weber. Poor Gus’ plan to make an impression ended up with the opposite kind of an impression he was shooting for. Their paths parted when Shirley moved to Nutley, but they would someday cross again.
As a young boy, Gus learned the value and satisfaction received from a well-disciplined, hard working life style. Every day, when he got home from school, he did his homework, peeled the vegetables for that night’s supper, and then went to work in his dad’s tool and die shop – Heisler Machine and Tool Company.
Upon his graduation from high school Gus worked for his father before he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in May of 1944. In the beginning of his service time, he was stationed in Portsmouth, Massachusetts where the USS Irex submarine was being built. Upon its completion, the engineers were having difficulty getting the sub to pass its sea trials in which the vessels compressors needed to be able to reach pressures of 3000 PSI before it could be deemed seaworthy. Gus thought he knew what was causing the problem and, with the permission of the chief of the boat, he took a crack at a solution. Utilizing the knowledge, he gained growing up in his father’s machine shop, Gus was able to determine that the pistons in the compressor used to build up the pressure, were pitted. Once the pistons were repaired, the Irex passed the sea trials with flying colors. Gus fixed the problem that no one else could figure out! He was recognized and thanked for his efforts and expertise by the submarine’s captain. To Gus, the commendation was a great honor! In total, Gus proudly served for two years in the Navy until, in 1946, while in the Panama Canal, the war ended and he returned home to civilian life.
One night after the war, Shirley’s cousin saw Gus’ car at a dance club called the Cliftonia. She alerted Shirley and the two of them went to make his acquaintance. Gus was more than pleased! They started dating but Gus had a hard time getting to first base with Shirley because Fred Weber, her father was, let’s just say, not very accepting of Gus. Surely this harkened back to that hop-scotch encounter in elementary school. Not to be dissuaded by this challenge, Fred and Gus’ relationship actually started to warm up when Shirley’s father learned that Gus had a case of low brass shot gun shells. You see, that’s when these two men discovered something that they had in common - a love of hunting. A case of shot gun shells was an exciting prospect to Fred because of that love of hunting, but, with the second world war going on, shot-gun shells were in short supply. After that, Gus and Fred actually became good buddies, often hunting and fishing together on Gus’ parents farm in Callicoon, NY.
It was on that Callicoon, NY, 80-acre farm on a beautiful day in 1948 that a local pastor united Shirley and Gus into the holy bonds of matrimony. After the wedding ceremony, their family and friends helped the newlyweds celebrate with a grand reception at the beautifully restored barn with a bar from the prohibition era. They honeymooned at the nearby Olympia Hotel. They settled in under the same roof for the first time, moving into the attic apartment of Gus’ parents’ house on 3rd Street in Clifton. Gus’ father’s machine shop was right behind that house so he didn’t have a long commute to work. While Shirley took care of their three beautiful children, Gus worked in the family business. A few years later Gus’ father moved to Florida and Gus and his older brother Ray opened a new manufacturing plant on Passaic Ave. in Fairfield. Meanwhile Gus moved his family into their first home on Broad Street. Soon after that, in 1961, they moved to the Pines Lake section of a newly developing section of Wayne.
Gus and his brother Ray took Heisler Machine and Tool Company to astronomical heights – literally! They were incredibly talented engineers and it didn’t take long before the U.S. Government approached them to manufacture aeronautical parts and equipment including nickel steel alloy combustion chambers, exhaust cones for rocket engines, and the first 12 basses for the first satellite to orbit the earth, as well as stainless steel plates for nuclear reactors and test fixtures. In other words, the items manufactured by Heisler went to the moon! In self-deprecating fashion, the Heisler family joke was that Heisler stuff wasn’t worth much so they left it on the moon. A lot of that equipment will forever stay on the moon. Gus and Ray also developed a machine for the textile industry which collated, folded, and inserted ladies’ dress patterns into retail packages. They built machines and dyes that were utilized in some of the first successful hip replacements as well as machinery for the paint industry which automatically inserted preformed metal handles on paint cans. During the design and manufacturing process, an innovative concept of automatically feeding wire from a spool into a machine and then cutting, forming, and inserting the paint can handle directly on the can developed. This technology was patented as the Bail-O-Matic machine and it revolutionized packaging in the paint industry. Gus semi-retired in his sixties and retired all-together in 1992. After retirement, he and Shirley moved to St. Augustine, Florida but, even to this day, Heisler Industries remains in the family under the very capable management of Gus’ two nephews Rick and Ron Heisler. Gus was a businessman of great integrity. He was incredibly generous to his employees blessing them with holiday gift baskets with hams and holiday treats, bonuses as well as the opportunity for profit-sharing within the company. If one of them was hurt and the insurance company wouldn’t cover all the expenses, it was not unusual for Gus to cover the difference out of his own pocket.
Gus and Shirley made friends wherever they went including those at the North Jersey Country Club and when they moved permanently to Florida, they became members of the Plantation Country Club. They made very good friends within the comunity. Gus and Shirley made a great team. Together they were blessed to travel the world to destinations including Africa, Alaska, Bora Bora, all of Western Europe, in fact every continent in the world except Antarctica. For over ten years, they had the joy of taking the whole family to the Colony in Long Boat Key, Florida.
Gus was just such a loving father! His son August, III and daughters Shirley and Judy were so blessed to call him Dad. He went to all of August’s sporting activities and all of Judy and Shirley’s girl activities. He taught his son how to hunt and fish as a very little boy by putting him on his shoulders, carrying him across rivers and, while sitting in the snow, helping him shoot his first deer. Gus laughed a little when his son struggled to try and pull the deer out of the woods. Then he helped him. August also remembers caribou hunting with Dad near the Arctic Circle. The kids always looked up to him for the great example of being a hard worker and they have vivid memories of him watching television with them at night with blueprints for a job from work spread out all over the coffee table in front of the TV.
The Pine’s Lake community of Wayne was blessed to have Gus and Shirley living in their community. They were always so willing and able to help out with the annual 4th of July and Labor day picnics. They also enjoyed playing in the Thursday night bowling league at T-Bowl and the kids loved it too because they could count on that being the night Dad and Mom were definitely out – a good night for them to cut up. Gus was so incredibly outgoing no matter where he went. Always giving hugs and kisses to everyone, but Shirley never worried about Gus’ heart wandering because he loved her with such passion and sensitivity. Her Alzheimer’s never caused Gus’ love for Shirley to wain – in fact it just made it stronger. He faithfully promised to stay healthy and strong for her and he stood by her side lovingly caring for her as only the best husband could do. When she passed away a month ago, a big part of Gus passed away too. Now they got to spend Valentine’s Day together again and are reunited for eternity.
Gus was predeceased by his beloved wife of 68 years, Shirley May Heisler just a month ago on January 14, 2016. He is survived by one son: August J. Heisler, III of Ponte Verde, Florida; two daughters: Shirley L. and husband Jack Howard of Frenchtown, NJ, and Judy H. and husband Jack Morgan of Charlotte, North Carolina; eight grandchildren: Michael Ryan Holcomb, Kimberly Holcomb-Cooper, Jack Calvin Morgan, Carter August Morgan, Clayton Weber Morgan, August J. Heisler IV, Brendan Heisler and Thorsen Heisler; eleven great-grandchildren: Mackenzie, Aidan, Morgan, Rylie, Hunter, Caroline, Addison, Jack, Maddox, Charlotte, and James; and his brother Robert and wife Linda Heisler of Bernardsville and Naples, FL. He was also predeceased by his brother and business partner Raymond Heisler.
In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy in August’s name are asked to consider the Alzheimer’s Association, 400 Morris Ave., Suite 251, Denville, NJ 07834 (www.alz.org/nj).
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