Donald "Don" Heyl

1930 - 2025

Donald "Don" Heyl

June 25, 1930 - October 9, 2025

Donald "Don" Heyl, 95, of Akron, Iowa, died on October 9th at the Akron Care Center.

Visitation with the family present will be on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Rexwinkel Funeral Home in Akron. Celebration of Life Service will follow at 5 p.m. Pastor Eric Alm from Immanuel Lutheran Church in Akron will officiate. Private family interment will be at the Riverside Cemetery in Akron.

Donald Lee Heyl was born on June 25, 1930 to Wyatt and Josephine (Christensen) Heyl in Plymouth County, Iowa. Don attended school in Akron, Iowa through the 9th grade when he left to help his father on the family farm.

At just 16 years old, Don bought his first gravel truck and spent the next three years hauling gravel throughout the local counties. Soon after, he purchased his first Diamond T tractor to run grain to the Southern region of the US. A businessman at heart, during his travels to the South, Don recognized an opportunity and a demand for produce. He made contacts in Canada that needed the produce from the Southern US. Those early miles marked the beginning of Heyl Truck Lines.

By the 1960s, Don had grown the operation to around 20 trucks. The next few decades were met with multiple challenges, but Don persevered. Don was never one to accept "no" as an answer, but instead, found another way.

Through Don's vision, hard work, and determination, he grew the company through the next few decades, and by his retirement in the 1990s, the organization ran 150 trucks with five terminal locations throughout the country. The company continued to expand and now runs over 500 trucks operating within the US and Canada. It was Don's grit, determination, and tenacity that built what is Heyl Truck Lines today. His legacy will live on in the company he built and the many lives he touched.

When Don wasn't on the road or in the office, he could be found on the golf course. Golf was a huge passion of Don's and he played in hundreds of tournaments over the years.

Don was united in marriage to Betty Louise Lewison on December 4, 1948. They made their home in Akron, Iowa. Don and Betty had six children. They later divorced in 1977.

Don remarried Debbra Louise Van Beek on April 29, 1980. Don and Deb lived in Hawarden, Iowa and had two children. They later divorced in 2002.

Don is survived by his special friend, Barbara McPherson; his children: Linda (Terry) Christensen of Hinton, Iowa, Roger (Deanna) Heyl of Elk Point, S.D., Alan (Barbie) Heyl of Yankton, S.D., David (Kim) Heyl of Akron, Iowa, Stephany Winston of Omaha, Neb., and Lindsey (Tim) Dacy of Sioux Falls, S.D.; 15 grandchildren: Tara (James) Wachendorf, Derek Heyl, Jordan Heyl, Connor Heyl, Mackenzie (Josh) Schaffert, Caitlin (Jason) Muhlbauer, Wyatt

Heyl, Amber Heyl, Amanda (Nate) Ackerson, Quinn Heyl, Jarett (Carli) Heyl, Arlena Heyl, Kenya Winston, Kendall Kniffen, and Kinley Dacy; 12 great grandchildren; nieces, nephews, and other extended family.

Don is preceded in death by his parents, sons Robert Heyl and Scott Heyl; and his sister Gladys Rozell.

In lieu of flowers and gifts, memorials can be made in Don's name to the Akron Golf Course.