The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
BY: Donna Pindell-The Quill
KAREN RAE HEAP
Karen grew up on a cattle farm near Smithshire with her parents, the late Ray and Esther Ann Musser and her four sisters of which she is the youngest.
Her dad was a farm boy from Media and her mom was born on the farm at Gladstone and her mom's family later moved to rural Smithshire.
Karen is married to Bryan Heap and they reside outside of Stronghurst on the dump road at "Lake Eugene", their farm pond named after Karen's father-in-law, Gene Heap, who built it.
Karen's son Brice and his family own and live in the Smithshire home of Karen's mom's family.
Bryan and Karen have four other married children. Chase and Brock live in Henderson County. Shayna is a hop and a skip in Iowa. Rachele resides in Arkansas.
The Heap's are blessed with ten grandchildren, whose ages range from 3 months to 17 years. They are anxious to welcome #11 in a few months.
Karen studied business and accounting in college, but economics and art appreciation caught her attention.
Karen is an enrolled agent; IRS holds her license to practice tax law before them. She left the public practice sector several years ago. Currently, she does the bookkeeping and tax work for Bryan and her farm operations and Bryan's business, Heap Agriculture Service LLC.
In 2013, she re-entered production ag as a cow-calf producer.
Karen loves spending time with her husband listening to records on the turntable or beating him at cribbage. She paints with oils for fun. She is an avid flower gardener and spends as much free time as she can in the horse pasture.
Her favorite family tradition is her and Bryan's annual date to walk the beach on Sanibel Island to watch the sunset.
A quote that keeps her going and she hopes others in the community as well: "Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful and most noble employment of man." - George Washington, 1st United States President.