James Moulten Heiskell

Mr. Heiskell was raised on the Heiskell farm in the beautiful Sweetwater Valley of East Tennessee. He was born in Sweetwater on September 9, 1917, to Harry Lee and Nora Jones Heiskell, the youngest of their seven children.

The Heiskell farm was renowned for its horses. By the time Jimmie was three, he was already riding his own pony, Alice. He could go where he wanted as long as he could see the ridge behind the house. He knew to be home for dinner when the sun was directly overhead and to have the pony in the barn when the sun touched the ridge in the evening.

Educated in Sweetwater and Athens, Tennessee, Jimmie Heiskell was a 1937 honor graduate of Tennessee Wesleyan College. He was in the co-op program at the University of Tennessee where he graduated first in the chemical engineering class of 1940. After graduation, Mr. Heiskell was associated with TVA, the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Indianapolis, and the Aluminum Company of America as an engineer and chemist.

Mr. Heiskell married Miriam Proffitt Waggoner at New Providence Presbyterian Church in Maryville, TN, on June 18, 1941.

During World War II, Mr. Heiskell served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. From 1943 until 1946, he was assigned to radar operations in the Pacific with air craft carrier-based dive bomber and torpedo bomber based squadrons.

In 1946, Mr. Heiskell returned to Indianapolis as operations engineer for the Coca-Cola Bottling Company. In 1949, he came to Atlanta to work for the Coca-Cola Company. In later years, he led the development of a totally new concept: delivering and dispensing Coca-Cola from bulk delivery containers rather than conventional bottles. The procedures and equipment he developed became standard throughout the beverage industry.

Mr. Heiskell had direct responsibility for the Company’s initial canning operations program for more than five years. Before his retirement in 1981, he developed an international program of production technical schools working with a staff from Harvard Business School, Stanford University, and Georgia Tech.

Since 1949, Mr. Heiskell worked alongside his wife Miriam, founder of The Heiskell School, where many were introduced to Jesus Christ. Mr. and Mrs. Heiskell were among the founders of Mount Vernon Christian Academy.

Mr. Heiskell, a life-long Presbyterian, worked out his Christian faith in service to many, especially to his own family and the children and families of The Heiskell School.

While his sons were young, Mr. Heiskell was a Boy Scout leader. He guided and encouraged his four children and thirteen grandchildren, most of whom he saw daily. He was a Presbyterian elder and served on the Board of Worldwide Discipleship Association and the Board of Visitors of Reformed Theological Seminary. In 1987, he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Tennessee Wesleyan College.

Mr. Heiskell is survived by his wife of 73 years, Miriam Heiskell; four children: son Andy Heiskell and wife Pamela Cleaves of New York, NY and Bonita Springs, FL; son Jim Heiskell and wife Connie of Atlanta; daughter Sally Lassiter and husband Ike of Hot Springs, NC; and daughter Cyndie Heiskell of Atlanta; twelve grandchildren: Laurel MacLeod of Manassas, VA; Jamie Heiskell and John Heiskell of Atlanta; Catherine St. Clair of Oakland, CA; Robert Heiskell of Philadelphia, PA; Connie Bolger of Branson, MO; Matthew Lassiter of Ann Arbor, MI; Rebekah DeRoco of Richmond, VA; Sarah Beth Murphy of Birmingham, MI; Isaac Lassiter of Ellijay, GA; Mary Alice Lamb of VT; and Daniel Lassiter of Palo Alto, CA; 32 great-grandchildren; three nieces: Polly Stallard of Lenoir City, TN; Joyce Janeway of Ten Mile, TN; and Ann Rutledge of Chattanooga, TN; two nephews: Frank “Twig” and Bobby Reynolds of Columbia, SC. He was predeceased in 1997 by his granddaughter Rachel Lassiter.

The memorial service will be held on Sunday, November 9, 2014, at H. M. Patterson & Son- Spring Hill at 2 o'clock. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations may be made to Project Mercy (.org), Reformed Theological Seminary, Educate the Children-Nepal, or College of the Ozarks.

(Mrs. Heiskell does not use the internet. Please keep that in mind when you express your condolences.)