Leo Murrell Heupel's Obituary
Mr. Leo Murrell Heupel, 86 entered into rest on Thursday, August 18, 2022 in Aiken, SC.
Mr. Heupel was born January 17, 1936, at home during a record winter storm. While his birth certificate states birthplace as, Bismarck, North Dakota, “home” was in Lemmon, South Dakota. Story has it that his father Adam hooked up the horses & took the carriage to get the doctor to help deliver baby Leo. After his birth, the doctor was snowed in with the rest of the family overnight due to a record blizzard.
Those proud parents were Adam and Emma Heupel. Leo was the second youngest of 5 children: Eldest was sister Vi Marion, next brother Marvin, then sister Lorene Smith & below him, brother Ken.
While growing up in a family of farmers & ranchers, Leo’s interests were more in line with the mechanical equipment. Leo had a gift of being able to fix and build just about anything! He was also a whiz with numbers and those two gifts served him well throughout his life.
After high school, Leo joined the military choosing the United States Marine Corps. It was when he was stationed at the Marine Corps Base Hawaii that Leo met his sweetheart, Jacqueline. The two had their first date on July 4th, 1958 and were married August 2nd! While Jackie passed away in 2011, 3 weeks after celebrating their 53rd wedding anniversary, Leo passed away two weeks after they would've celebrated their 64th anniversary.
They were then blessed with two daughters, Tammy Lynn Leimomi Heupel and Jaelee Kawa'aholo'onali'i Heupel and one month before their 50th wedding anniversary, welcomed their one and only grandchild, Leo Koa'onamakaokalani Beus.
Leo retired after a 36 1/2 -year career in food service and vending operations with Marriott. He started out using his gift of being a 'Mr. Fix-it" and serviced vending machines and any other piece of equipment needing attention. He learned every job and knew it well. He was asked on several occasions to 'train' newly hired managers until one day he told them that if he was good enough to train them, he was more than qualified to BE manager and if he wasn't going to be given that opportunity, he was going to leave. Until that point, only individuals with college degrees were hired into management positions and it was another manager who knew Leo and of his exemplary work, stood up for him letting upper management know that they would be making a HUGE mistake in letting Leo go. It was then that he became manager over all vending operations with the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Leo was known to be an avid fan of University of Hawai'i Manoa football, basketball, volleyball, baseball etc... He was very active with the various sport activities and did a lot to support them with foodservice related functions.
Leo was also a lover of golf, bowling and fishing. It was hard to tell what his "favorite" pastime was as it seemed to change as he grew older. What was easy to tell was that he loved all things sports!
Leo was preceded in death by his wife Jacqueline Leimomi Heupel (Whitford); parents Adam & Emma Heupel; and sister, Vi Marion.
Survivors include his two daughters, Tammy Lynn Leimomi Heupel and Jaelee Kawa'aholo'onali'i Heupel; grandson, Leo Koa'onamakaokalani Beus; brothers, Marvin Heupel and Ken Heupel (Sandy); sister, Lorene Smith (Dick); numerous nieces & nephews; and several individuals who are family by choice not blood.
Services will be as follows: On Monday, September 19, 2022 viewing & services will be held at the Waikalua Chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints located at 45-150 Waikalua Road Kaneohe, HI 96744. Viewing will be from 9:15 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Services from 10:00-11:00 a.m. with burial following at 12:00 p.m. at The Valley of the Temples Memorial Park located at 47-200 Kahekili Highway Kaneohe, HI 96744 (Aupuni Lani section)
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