FRANCIS L.  HEID , 84, long-time resident of Cherokee, Iowa, passed away Thursday evening, November 14, 2019 in Ames, Iowa.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Thursday, November 21st, at 10:30 a.m. at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Cherokee, Iowa. Father Mark Stoll will officiate. Burial will be in the Mt. Calvary Cemetery at Cherokee, Iowa. Visitation will be on Wednesday, November 20 ^th , from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. with the family present from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee, Iowa. There will be a Scripture Wake Service following the visitation at 7 p.m.  on Wednesday evening at the funeral home. Online condolences can be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com

He was born on August 7, 1935 in Storm Lake, IA, the son of Andrew and Marie (Dettermann) Heid who lived in Rolfe at the time. He was baptized into the Catholic Church, attended Early Sacred Heart School, and was a loyal parishioner of Immaculate Conception Church in Cherokee until his death. His father died when he was 14 years old and he suddenly became the "man of the family," supporting his mother and two sisters, Mary and Andrea, with the help of an extended family in the Early area.  He had always hated school and so really didn't mind when he had to drop out of school and take care of the family farm.  As he got older, he would cruise the streets of Storm Lake, IA in his 1940 Ford.  There, he met the love of his life, Sandra Wilson, daughter of Stanley and Jennie Wilson.  They were married on Feb 21, 1955, and soon had three children, sons Francis Jr and Stephan and a daughter Jerri.  The family moved to Cherokee in November 1958 when Francis opened a DX gas station at the corner of Main and Locust.  Over the years, he worked at most of the garages in Cherokee: B & H Hatchery, Samsel Garage, Lubeck Oil, Peterson Motors, Bowers Ford, Lundell Construction, Bushlow's, O'Halloran Truck, and finally running his own garage on South Fifth Street.  Even after he retired, he kept working out of the garage in the family home's back yard.   After the stint at Bowers Ford, he was always proud of being one of the "blue oval" guys, driving Fords and recommending them all the time.

The family garage was a gathering spot for all the "motorheads" in Cherokee.  He was always working on his latest race car and helping others build their race cars and racing careers.  On Saturdays, he worked till noon and then rushed home to put the final touches on the car before towing it 90 miles from Cherokee to Jackson, MN. He loved his cars, which were always sharp-looking:  the 1932 Ford with a blue as dark as a late evening sky, the 1931 Ford a bright orange, and a kit car in Mopar's Plum Crazy to go with the Plymouth engine he pioneered in modified racing. It was his passion that kept him racing week in, week out. Crossing the Minnesota State Line, Francis would mutter under his breath that we were going into "God's country."  His wife Sandra – just as passionate about racing – said that she wanted to be buried in a graveyard on the way to Jackson because she knew she would see him at least once a week as he drove by to go racing.

Francis had two great successes in racing:  he won a feature at the Clay County Fair with Ed Arends driving what was then called a super-modified against what were supposed to be superior sprint cars.  He also had a very successful partnership with Kenny White running a sprint car for several years.  He ended his sprint car racing career with his son Stephan driving the car they built together.

When he couldn't run a sprint car anymore, Francis raced go-karts - first with his grandson Jesse and then for ten years with his daughter Jerri. The family's favorite picture of him shows him "walking the track" with his favorite driver, his daughter Jerri.   Though their backs are to the camera, you clearly see the two intensely sharing a moment, talking about the adjustments they needed to make, Francis to the kart, Jerri to her driving.  His proudest moment racing came when he won an award from the Allendorf, IA go-kart track as the "Mechanic of the Year".

When he couldn't race anymore, he started working on classic cars.  He was an amazing mechanic, with the ability to take apart any complicated piece of machinery and then put it back together without a parts manual.  He quickly became the go-to mechanic for the classic car owners in the area. He often went with them on classic car cruises, working on the cars at the side of the road or in a parking lot so he could keep them running until they got home.  His son Francis Jr tells the story that no one in Duluth could fix the Fiat Spyder that he had recklessly bought, but his dad got it running in the time it took him to put on his coat.

Francis is preceded in death by his father Andrew, his mother Marie, and various aunts and uncles.

He is survived by his wife Sandra of Ames, IA; sons Francis Jr (Jocelyn) of Duluth, MN and Stephan (Sandra Lee) of Ft. Dodge, IA and daughter Jerri of Ames, IA;  grandchildren: Jesse (Andrea) Johnson, Francis Heid III, Erin (Jordan) Bettazza, Stephan (Miranda) Heid Jr, Emily (Scott) Brickles, and Cassandra (Rich) Ashton, and nine great grandchildren; sisters Mary (Lee) and Andrea.