Granddad & Grandgrad
Fifty years after his own graduation, Richard Heise shares in his grandson Joseph's.
There's a gentleness about Richard Heise, '58 MS, founding owner of Albuquerque's St. Francis Animal Clinic, that you can't miss. Richard and his youngest grandson, Joseph, both participated in UNM commencement on May 17—Richard as a "Golden Grad," and Joseph as the new recipient of a BA.
"You can tell right away he's a true animal lover," says Roberta Ricci, who recently took her two dachshunds to Dr. Heise for treatment. "Slinky and Vienna were crying and scared, and I was worried that he would lecture me for not bringing them in earlier," she says. Within minutes, all three were reassured, and life was better.
Richard says he realized early on that working well with people was key to being a good vet. While confessing he finds the animals more rewarding, he hastens to add that he has "loyal, good clients."
Joe has seen firsthand his grandfather's concern for his clients. "Dad sometimes charges them little or nothing if they can't afford it," he says.
"Dad" is Joe's moniker for the man who held that place in his life with no real dad at home. "He's my ideal man," Joe says. "He was always working for his family, almost never taking time off."
Richard's family includes his wife of 56 years, Catherine, their four children, and their three grandchildren. Among them, they hold 13 degrees from UNM, counting Joe's newly acquired BA.
Head West!
Richard and Catherine moved to New Mexico from Manhattan, Kansas, after completing degrees (Richard's in veterinary medicine) at Kansas State. They graduated, married, and set up house and career within a few months' time.
Intending to become a professor of veterinary medicine, Richard began studying toxicology at UNM while working, rearing a young family, and taking part in community and church activities. He completed his degree in 1958, eventually becoming a fellow of the American Veterinary Toxicology Association. "I give credit to my wife for her support," he says.
"Like a great many things," Richard says, "plans don't always carry through." The Heises decided to stay in New Mexico rather than move to a state with a veterinary school where Richard could teach. He founded St. Francis Animal Clinic the same year.
"I'm glad we stayed," Richard says, "for our own gratification and so the kids could live at home and attend UNM."
Lobo Tradition
"Richard's graduate studies began an interesting and gratifying family relation (with) the University of New Mexico," Catherine writes in a preface to a list of family degrees, as follows: son Patrick, '76 BAA; daughter Georgianna, '79 BSHE, '84 MA; daughter Magdalana, '86 BBA, '88 MBA; daughter Carissima-Angelique, '89 BS, '91 MBA; grandson Francis, '00 BBA, '03 MBA; granddaughter Claire, '97 BA; and grandson Joseph, '08 BA.
As the family's most recent graduate, Joseph dreams of life as a standup comedian and comedy-writer. He placed second in the Jimmy Kimmel Live! College Comedy Tour competition and has worked at local comedy venues. He took a year away from his studies recently to learn about the entertainment business in Manhattan, working behind the scenes in Broadway plays. While there he also learned of the need to complete his degree, and have a backup plan en route to professional comedy. He chose to pursue broadcast journalism and modern Middle Eastern history; he plans to begin work on his master's degree in history this fall.
Richard takes pride in the value his family has placed upon education. "Education is the reverse of instant gratification," he says. "In the short run, you give things up, but in the long run, you're repaid."
To be gratifying, that repayment needn't be monetary, in Richard's view. Although he declines to give advice to graduates, saying he wouldn't try to urge anyone to go a certain route, he says he gives "credit to most current grads for looking for a career they'll enjoy—not what makes the most money."
It wasn't money that motivated Richard to purchase 2,000 starter trees for a Christmas tree farm after his veterinary business took root. "I think I was reading too much about Christmas tree propagation," he explains. His optimism was tried after the South Valley land deal fell through, leaving the Heises with nowhere to plant the starters. Joe's mother's high school class helped the family plant the trees temporarily in Styrofoam cups before the Heises came upon vacant land in Algodones. About 90 percent of the trees survived, which, Richard says, is "better than the state forester's rate!"
"I've had a lot of good fortune," Richard says, downplaying, characteristically, the role he has played in attracting it.
Mary Conrad