Muriel (Mini) Pechon Hecker

Muriel (Mini) Pechon Hecker passed away peacefully in her sleep on August 29, 2025 in Jacksonville, Florida, surrounded by loved ones. She was 101.

She is preceded in death by her parents, husband Edward N. Hecker, Jr. and sister Althea Pechon Russo and brother Arthur Joseph Pechon.

Mini is survived by her son, Nick Hecker (Nancy), her daughter Penny Hecker, grandson Sam Hecker (Kaitlin), two nephews, and three nieces.

Born in New Orleans, LA in 1924, to Arthur George Pechon and Julia Catherine Holderith Pechon, she graduated from Robuin High School. Mini was a loving mother, avid gardener, wonderful cook, lover of animals and classical music. In her youth, before marriage at age 22, she won ribbons for riding horses English style at Audubon Park stables and was an accomplished pianist. She worked various clerical jobs after high school and managed to save enough money to purchase her own baby grand piano. Having grown up during the depression, she was especially proud of this accomplishment.

After losing her husband in 1969 when her children were still young, Mini began working as a receptionist at a local pediatric clinic, where she remained until her retirement in 1993 at age 69. She was also a Hurricane Katrina survivor who lost her beloved Lakeview home in New Orleans at age 81. After Hurricane Katrina, she and her cherished dog ‘Peaches’ moved to Chesapeake, VA, where they lived with her son and his family.

In 2013 she returned to Louisiana to live with her daughter in Hammond until yet another hurricane – Ida – forced her to leave again. She lived in Jacksonville near her son and his wife until her passing.