This article originally appeared on HaltonHillsToday June 21.
In a touching addition to a memorial on Hwy. 7 just outside Acton, local residents have sculpted a heart into the side of a hill where a Ghost Bike honours a late cyclist.
That bicycle memorializes Mark Heideman, a Georgetown resident who was killed in a collision earlier this year. The accompanying heart was created Wednesday (June 19) and is located between Fourth and Fifth Lines.
Heideman’s sister Patti says she watched workers from Humberstone Landscapes level the surrounding grass with weed whackers, creating a 3D heart on the hill.
She recalled that she “just stood on the side of the road and cried” as the heart took shape.
“Thank you just doesn’t seem appropriate,” she told HaltonHillsToday as she searched for the words to describe what the memorial addition means to her.
“Losing Mark has been a terrible blow to me and my family. This just lightens my heart and gives me faith in the beautiful people that are still here and in our lives.”
Heideman, an avid cyclist, was struck by a car near Fourth Line on Hwy. 7 as he was heading home to Georgetown on his bike. The organization Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists found out about the incident that same month and installed the white Ghost Bike at the top of the hill as a reminder to drivers of Heideman. A small placard on the handlebars reads, “60-year-old cyclist March 3, 2024. You never ride alone.”
Despite being described as an introvert, Patti Heideman was pleasantly surprised to find out just how many friends her brother had. When the news of his death spread in Halton Hills, dozens of people rapped on her door to give their condolences.
“I was just overwhelmed with all the love that people have for Mark,” she said.
“Every day with Mark was great. He was kind, sweet and never angry. He was my best friend and I’ll love him forever.”
The idea to make the heart on the side of the hill happened quickly. About three weeks ago, Heideman told her close friend Donna Humberstone that she wanted to buy an electric whipper snipper to keep the grass down around her brother’s ghost bike. Humberstone told her son Allan about the idea and the ball started rolling.
Fast forward to Wednesday, the two friends were heading over to the bike to water the plants around it. They were surprised to find Allan Humberstone and his team shaping the heart.
“He (Mark) was a person that would never hurt a fly and had a heart of gold,” Donna Humberstone said about her friend. "It just seemed so unfair that one day he was here and the next I’m getting a phone call that all this had happened. It wasn’t real.
“That’s what the heart was about. He was certainly loved by so many people.”
Heideman will be installing a memorial bench to honour the memory of her brother. It will be located at one of his favourite places, the Georgetown Fairgrounds, and will likely be in place around September.
She often shared her dogs with Mark and he would take them to the fairgrounds to play. As many people described him as "that nice guy with a Frisbee," a plaque with the caption will be affixed to the bench.
Several people who knew Mark had a celebration of life where they all walked their dogs in the fairgrounds and reminisced about him.
“We were as close as twins," Heideman said in summing up her relationship with her brother. "He was my heart and soul. He was my person."
