David Hedman, age 84, of Isanti died September 8, 2025 at Prairie Senior Cottages in Isanti. A Graveside service will be held at 1 PM, Friday, September 26th at Forest Home Cemetery in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Military Honors will be provided by Northwoods Honor Guard.
David Arnold Hedman was born Jan. 14, 1941 in Rhinelander Wisconsin to Shirley R (Gilman) and Henry A. Hedman. David attended one room school houses, Shepard Lake and Bernstein followed by Pine Lake then Rhinelander High until he joined the navy in 1959. He took various classes throughout life, in 1987 he got an Associates Degree. From age 11 to 18 years old David and our great stepdad, Dick Hale, belonged to Boy Scouts of America – Pine Lake Troop 195 then becoming Troop 595. This was a good foundation for life and many good times.
At 18, David’s first hitch (1959-1963) in the navy he was assigned to the USS Arneb (AKA-56) an amphibious cargo vessel. It’s destination was the Antarctic, “Operation Deep Freeze”. They had many stops along the way and then a cruise around the world recording data for science on the way back to the US port. He went on this trip three times. This is the experience he talked about most over the years. There were other ships and hitches that had civilian time in between. His Performance Evaluation Reports were quote “Exceptional”. David retired at 70 after 23 years with Pinkerton in California. Pride in his work was again evident by impressive evaluations.
David married Elizabeth Carol in Christ Church, New Zealand in the early 60’s. They were together for 2 weeks then David had to ship out. Their marriage didn’t last. Back in Rhinelander, he fell in love with and married Jennifer Harper on July 26, 1969. They had a son, Douglas Henry, born in March 1970. They moved to Bremerton, Washington in 1973. Jennifer and David separated in 1976. David missed a lot of Doug’s childhood but treasured the times they were together. In 1980, he married Estrella Rojo in Cebu City, Philippines. They lived in California mostly. Estrella died in 2018 in Cebu City.
Over the years David enjoyed old music, playing cards, a variety of puzzles, fishing and a good chew! He didn’t smoke, drank very little and was friendly, playful, cheerful and liked animals.
David died September 8, 2025 at Prairie Senior Cottages in Isanti, MN at the age of 84 years. He is preceded in death by wife, Estrella; sister, Jennie and brother-in-law, William Guolee.
David is survived by son, Douglas of Washington; sister, Edna Carlson of MN; nieces and a nephew; aunt, Karen Statzney (Jim) of WI; uncle, Dennis Miller (Karen) of WI; and many cousins.
A special thank you to Prairie Senior Cottages for the wonderful care they gave to David.
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