Heather Lee Kaiser, age 56, died of complications from pneumonia on Tuesday, September 23, 2025.
She was born in Sheboygan on June 4, 1969. Her parents were Valaron and Sandra Kaiser. She graduated from South High School in 1987. After high school, she worked as a veterinary assistant for many years. She was never happier than when she was around animals, any animals, especially dogs.
Afterwards, she took on other jobs in the Sheboygan area that allowed her time to pursue her love of competitive cycling and snowboarding. She was a standout in both sports, winning and losing competitions around the state with good grace. In 2001 she organized a snowboarding trip for her four siblings and their families and taught everyone, from the adults to the kids, how to snowboard. There were many injuries. It was awesome.
She found another calling when she completed training in phlebotomy the early 2000’s to work in the blood and plasma donation field. She thrived in that field, working at Bio Life and later Versiti (formerly the Blood Center of Wisconsin). Heather’s kindness, intelligence, and often-irreverent sense of humor ideally suited her to the job of sticking people with needles, and she became a skilled phlebotomist and a favorite among her donors and coworkers.
She shared her life with her beloved boxers: Z, Two, Drei, Mama, and Lola. She was a talented gardener who educated herself in canning, preserving, and inventing healthy recipes. This love inspired her to start and run Heather’s Homemade Dog Treats, a small business that attracted a devoted following among animal lovers in Sheboygan for a time.
Her favorite and longest-lasting hobby was reading. She read widely and deeply, enjoying poetry and the works of Charles Dickens as much as Stephen King and Dean Koontz. She would periodically turn up at her sister’s front door with a box full of books to pass along and share. Sometimes she would buy new copies of favorite books to gift to her nieces, just because. Or she would drop off a few favorite boxes of tea and some homemade pickles, just because. She yelled at her nephews to wear their helmets, gave driving lessons, took kids to the movies, and thrived in her role as Cool Fun Aunt With Motorcycle AND Trampoline.
Heather was a loving and much-loved sister to Kelli Kaiser of Sheboygan, Cindi (Ken) Mihm of Sheboygan, Kace (Mary) Kaiser of Waterford, and Hayley (David) Burkart of Sheboygan. She is further survived by her father, Val (Pat) Kaiser of Monument, CO. She was preceded in death by her mother, Sandra Kaiser.
A private family service will be held. She will be greatly missed.