Memorials › Hadley Irvin Heavin

Hadley Irvin Heavin

26 May 1918 – 7 Dec 1941

Birth	26 May 1918
Death	7 Dec 1941
Cemetery	Baxter Springs City Cemetery Soldiers' Lot Baxter Springs , Cherokee County , Kansas , USA
Added by	D Snyder on 29 Aug 2020
FaG	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/215005287

Bio

Memorial services for Hadley Irvin Heavin, Baxter Springs, KS, will be held at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, September 5, 2020, at the First Christian Church, Baxter Springs, KS. Burial will follow with full military honors at the Baxter Springs Cemetery. Hadley was born May 26, 1918, to Charles T. and Mary Ann (Gaddy) Heavin. He was the second of seven children. He spent his childhood in Baxter Springs, growing up with five brothers and one sister. He attended Baxter schools through the 8th grade, leaving school to help take care of his siblings during the depression. He was a devoted son and big brother. He was a member of the First Christian Church of Baxter. As a teen, Hadley did odd jobs in town, working for different merchants such as Ray Kirkendoll and a cousin, Ira Heavin. At one point he left Baxter to do construction work in Las Vegas for Ira, but returned home after about six months. He loved boxing as a youth. There was a boxing club in Baxter that was ran by Fred Rever. Hadley spent many hours there boxing with other youths from the area. In June of 1938, at the age of 20, Hadley enlisted in the US Navy. He was a Fireman 1st Class. He did his basic training at the Great Lakes Naval Station in Great Lakes, IL. While there he continued to box and won several awards including the Golden Gloves award. On December 7, 1941, Hadley was on board his ship, the USS West Virginia, and was on duty when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. His ship sustained multiple torpedo hits and sank to the harbor floor. Initially, 107 crewmen were accounted for. When the ship was finally salvaged, Navy personnel recovered the remains of at least 66 additional crewmen, including Hadley. These remains were interred as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the punchbowl, in Honolulu, HI. Hadley was awarded the Purple Heart for his sacrificial service to his country. Hadley's name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate that he has been accounted for. In September, 2019, after 78 years, Hadley's remains were identified after his two remaining brothers, Charles (Frog) Heavin and Rex Heavin, provided DNA samples to find their brother. At his time of death in 1941, Hadley's survivors include his parents, Charles and Mary Ann Heavin, five brothers, Clarence Heavin, Herbie Heavin, Ernest Heavin, Charles (Frog) Heavin and Rex Heavin, and one sister, Fern Heavin. At the time of this memorial service, two brothers, Charles and wife Shirley, and Rex and wife Irene still survive, along with many loving nieces and nephews and extended family. Hadley's memory has been kept alive for over 78 years by his brothers and sister and families. There was never a family gathering that his name was not mentioned and stories were not shared. It is a miracle and a blessing that we have this opportunity to finally lay him to rest in his home town and with his family. View Cenotaph at HERE .

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