April 2006, Vol. 16, No. 2
Table of Contents
CCE Recognition by USDE Set to Expire • CCE Response Spurs Follow-up Complaint • Differentiating Neuromuscular from Musculoligamentous Subluxation • Chiropractic Pioneer Passes Away • Early Life Infections Improve the Function of the Immune System • European Spine Journal Publishes PosturePrint® Study • ICA Defending Chiropractic from PT's • Immunization • Letters to the Editor • Life University Teaches CBP® as an Elective • The Ineffectiveness of Over Accommodating • Parker College and Seminars Begin Celebration Preparations • PosturePrint® Used to Determine Stability of Upright Posture • CBP® Hits 91 Publications • Thanks for Helping Your Local HMO Grow! • The Perfect Chiropractic Storm • Three Keys to Practice Success • Building Wealth Securely: Maintenance, Not Pain Relief •
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Dr. Richard Heun, Chiropractic Pioneer Passes Away
On January 26th, 2006, the life of a true chiropractic pioneer ended far too soon. For those of us left behind, he left a legacy in the humanity he touched, and the courage he exemplified in his actions. He was a man bigger than life, with a heart to match; he never new a stranger for very long. He was passionate about many things: his country, and his profession; his family and friends and the betterment of his fellow man.
Dr. Richard Joseph Heun grew up the son of a hard working farm boy who found a niche in the meat packing industry in Iowa. He lived the life of his parent’s view of opportunity, and at least for a time, he was directed into a career in that same industry. Until his personal health experience with chiropractic care, (following a protracted battle with sinus problems and severe headaches), chiropractic was a concept and opportunity unknown to him. When his decision to pursue a chiropractic career was resisted by his parents, he obstinately objected and respectfully defied their wishes. This demonstration of courage was only the beginning of a lifetime of resistance to those opposed to chiropractic.
The “full spine approach” to chiropractic care was a relatively new concept in 1957. It was enjoying a renaissance among a handful of students at Palmer College, and Richard Heun was one of those students. A man named Dr. Clarence Gonstead was principally responsible for Richard’s newfound focus of study. He was at that time quietly seeing hundreds of patients a week with extraordinary success in Mt. Horeb, WI. Despite the opposition of the dean, who was under the edict of Dr. B. J. Palmer who forbade it, Richard began to venture up to Mt. Horeb to learn directly from Dr. Gonstead. Despite many visits to the dean’s office, with the threat of expulsion hanging over his head, Richard persisted in his quest to learn. He and many other students and friends learned the Gonstead System and began teaching others. They no doubt provided an alternative for those following them through Palmer College.
After graduation from Palmer, Dr. Richard Heun traveled to California seeking a warmer climate and fertile ground to establish a Gonstead chiropractic practice. Armed with only a brand new Viking X-ray machine, he settled in Napa, California. One day while cleaning up the front of the office and home at 2000 Jefferson St., an old time chiropractor stopped his car, got out and approached him. After a cursory introduction, he proceeded to chastise Dr. Heun for attempting to bring X-ray technology to chiropractic, and after his parting words that the young pioneer would fail and go bankrupt, sped off in a huff. Dr. Heun met resistance from all he met in the medical community with his new approach. He was personally helping to bring chiropractic care into the mainstream one patient at a time. He gradually won the respect of the medical community, and became a trusted colleague.
Dr. Heun built a world-class practice in Napa, CA. He practiced within the same walls for 38 years, though the interior, and his clinical approach to the patient evolved with the new science being explored and applied to his profession. When Chung Ha Suh, PhD was investigating the subluxation and the physical properties of the spinal adjustment, Dr. Heun was there, along with Dr. Alex Cox and Dr. Doug Cox delivering cervical adjustments and measuring the force required to achieve what at that time was considered a successful corrective thrust. Though this research was in retrospect rudimentary, it was a first in chiropractic, a real academic and researcher, beginning to investigate chiropractic. Dr. Heun’s dedication to ongoing research in chiropractic continued unabated.
Dr. Heun was on the board of regents of Pacific States Chiropractic College (PSCC). When the direction of the academic program of PSCC took a restrictive turn, he along with others helped to counsel and support development of Northern California College of Chiropractic (NCCC). (These institutions are now known as Palmer College of Chiropractic-West, and Life College of Chiropractic-West.) Were it not for resistance to the isolated teaching of upper cervical chiropractic only, a concept all too familiar to Dr. Heun from his own days at Palmer College in Davenport, this physical separation of PSCC into PSCC and NCCC and now PCC-W and LCC-W would likely not have occurred. Therefore, those students of both Palmer-West and Life-West who have enjoyed the academic freedom to study full spine techniques, including Gonstead and CBP® owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Heun and the handful of dedicated chiropractors who had the courage to defend academic freedom.
In the clinical realm, Dr. Heun had learned care of the spine and extremities from Dr. Gonstead. He later added soft tissue techniques to his armamentarium enhancing the results. When Chiropractic Biophysics was born, the approach to the patient’s posture intrigued him, he viewed this new work as advancement on many of the concepts he personally heard Dr. Gonstead espouse in the clinical setting. Dr. Heun explained to many students and colleagues that Dr. Gonstead, were he alive today would be using all the modern science at his disposal to advance his work. Dr. Heun expressed this same intellectual courage. In the last decade of his Napa Clinic, he practiced Gonstead for acute care and CBP® for corrective care. He saw CBP® as the future of chiropractic and that all manual chiropractic techniques should apply the science that CBP® Non-Profit, Inc. is producing to better chiropractic care.
Dr. Richard Heun left the world a far better place for his efforts. He helped many thousands of patients with his chiropractic skill. He inspired many young men and women to become chiropractors, and he supported their efforts in the profession. He leaves behind a wife of 49 years, four successful sons, one of whom is a chiropractor, four loving daughters in law, eleven grandchildren, and a wealth of “fifth sons,” loving and loyal friends and admiring colleagues. He is a man who will truly be missed. We were all blessed by his presence here on Earth. RIP Dr. Richard Heun.
