Miriam and James Heiskell had moved all over the country during World War II before settling in Atlanta in 1948. James Heiskell had been in the Navy, and Miriam moved with him — 21 times.
Five days after they arrived, their five-year-old son Andy was diagnosed with polio myelitis. Doctors told them he would not live through the night.
As Andy lay dying at Grady Memorial Hospital, his grandfather dropped to his knees, pleading with God to spare the boy.
Andy lived.
Then, doctors told Miriam, a teacher, and James their son would be “a vegetable,” their daughter Cyndie Heiskell remembered.
Andy was soon able to talk, and he regained cognitive function.
Doctors then said Andy would never be able to walk.
Andy not only walked and talked, but soon his parents were planning for him to enter first grade.
Doctors had all called Andy’s recovery a “miracle,” but many who knew Miriam said what happened next was also miraculous.
She organized play groups for Andy with other children to help his socialization skills. Given the hysteria — as the polio epidemic and fear of contracting it spread across the country — not many parents wanted their children to do that.
“It was like the early days of AIDS,” said Cyndie Heiskell, referring to the fear, stigma and lack of treatments available in the late 1940s.
Miriam was tireless in her efforts to find children to play with her son, driving door-to-door and leaving messages in people’s mailboxes, Cyndie Heiskell said.
Bit by bit, parents brought their children to play with Andy, and thus was born the Heiskell School, a Christian pre-K that expanded eventually through the eighth grade. Miriam Heiskell, a lifelong Presbyterian, felt called to combine her gratitude to God for sparing Andy and her love of children in starting and running the school, which closed in 2014, for 65 years.
“She was like the Pied Piper around children,” said Cyndie Heiskell. “She loved them, and they loved her.”
Miriam Heiskell died from complications of pneumonia Jan. 21 at her home, surrounded by her children and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was 97.
Miriam Waggoner was born Oct. 15, 1918 in Morristown, Tenn., and grew up in Maryville, Tenn. She played the piano, organ and french horn and competed in debates. She graduated cum laude in 1940 from the University of Tennessee with majors in child development and foods and nutrition. She became a teacher, then married James, following him to from base to base.
In Atlanta, the experience with Andy helped set her direction, she later said: “When God provided an opportunity to impact children’s lives through Christian education, I found my life’s calling.”
Not only did she spend her days teaching and running the school, but she also welcomed college students and friends of her four children into the family home every day.
“You never knew who would show up for dinner,” said Cyndie. “Obviously, she had a lot of freezers.”
Because her parents sponsored Campus Crusade for Christ at Georgia Tech, students from that school were regulars at the Heiskell home, too. When a big snowstorm hit Atlanta one year, the Heiskell home filled up with Tech students —not just for dinner, but for the duration.
“She always thought, ‘how can I help someone?’ ” Cyndie Heiskell said.
That often meant preaching the gospel to them and sharing her love of Christ.
“She didn’t just influence us as a grandmother, but as a businesswoman, an entrepreneur and as an evangelist,” said granddaughter Rebekah DeRoco of Richmond, Va. “She was a woman with a very strong commitment to shaping the culture of her country by shaping the children of her country.”
Reola DeRico, whose son attended the Heiskell School before continuing on to McCallie School in Chattanooga and later Davidson College in Davidson, N.C., said Miriam and James were like grandparents to her son Pierce, who had no living grandparents. On every trip home from prep school and later college, he visited them.
In 2010, at age 92, Miriam Heiskell made a special visit to see him at McCallie. Pierce, a bass baritone, was to perform a solo in a black-tie choral performance in his senior year. Heiskell asked her daughter to drive her to the performance. She beamed as she heard Pierce sing.
When Pierce was accepted into medical school last year, he went to Miriam Heiskell’s home so he could read her the acceptance letter, his mother said.
“We thank God incredibly for allowing us to know Miriam Heiskell and her husband,” said DeRico.
The funeral for Miriam Heiskell was to be Sunday, Jan. 31, at H. M. Patterson and Son, Spring Hill Chapel at 2 p.m.
In addition to Andy Heiskell, who lives in New York City, and Cyndie Heiskell, Miriam Heiskell is survived by son Jim Heiskell of Atlanta and daughter Sally Lassiter of Hot Springs, N.C., and 12 grandchildren and 33 great-grandchildren. One grandchild preceded her in death.
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