Joanna Heideman; Retired Principal, Teacher

Joanna Heideman, principal of Eleanor J. Toll Junior High School in Glendale for 21 years, died in Glendale on her 94th birthday.

Miss Heideman worked 37 years for the Glendale Unified School District, starting as a teacher in 1923.

She died Friday of heart disease, her sister-in-law said.

A native of Sioux Center, Iowa, Miss Heideman graduated from the University of Iowa and taught elementary school in her hometown for a short time before moving to Glendale in 1919.

She started as a teacher at Edison Elementary School in Glendale four years later. She then taught at Wilson Junior High School before becoming vice principal and teacher at Theodore Roosevelt Junior High School in 1932. She was promoted to principal at Eleanor J. Toll Junior High School in 1939, a position she held until she retired in 1960.

As principal, she set high academic standards, said Wayland Parsons, who was principal of Clark Junior High School while Miss Heideman was at Toll.

Miss Heideman was a life member of the American Assn. of University Women, the PTA and Pi Lambda Theta sorority. She also earned a master’s degree in literature from USC.

She is survived by her sister-in-law, Marion W. Heideman of Puyallup, Wash.; and a niece, Gretchen Emrich of Spokane, Wash. A memorial service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday at the Peace Chapel of Kiefer & Eyerick Mortuary, at 314 E. Harvard St., Glendale, which is handling the arrangements. Burial will be private. Donations can be made in Miss Heideman’s name to a charity of the donor’s choice.