Ken Hiegel receives lifetime pro-life honor Sept. 13

Little Rock Catholic only the fourth recipient of award, named for late bishop

Published: September 20, 2014

By Dwain Hebda
Associate Editor

Dwain Hebda

Ken Hiegel of Little Rock receives the Bishop Andrew J. McDonald Lifetime Achievement Award Sept. 13. Presenting the award on behalf of Arkansas Right to Life is 2003 lifetime achievement honoree Jacki Ragan.

Dwain Hebda

Ken Hiegel, a parishioner with Our Lady of the Holy Souls Church in Little Rock, received the Bishop Andrew J. McDonald Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Arkansas Right to Life Sept. 13. The surprise presentation coincided with the organization’s annual luncheon at Christ the King Church in Little Rock.

Hiegel, just the fourth person so honored, has devoted 40 years to the pro-life cause and is one of the founders of the Arkansas Right to Life organization, for which he served as both its president and vice president.

Other activities have included sidewalk counseling, volunteering at the annual March for Life and Arkansas Right to Life booth at the Arkansas State Fair, spearheading letter-writing rallies, pro-life dinners and giving countless pro-life presentations. He’s also lobbied on behalf of pro-life candidates at the state and federal level. He still serves on the board of directors of Arkansas Right to Life representing the Second Congressional District.

Jacki Ragan, state organizational development director for National Right to Life in Washington, D.C., and former diocesan respect life director, presented Hiegel the award. Ragan was herself a lifetime achievement award winner in 2003.

Other recipients include the award’s namesake, the late Bishop McDonald, in 2000 and former diocesan respect life director Anne Dierks in 2005.