Matthew, Mark and Micah Heibel were born in Clay Center, Kansas. They lived in Palmer, Kansas, but that was where the hospital was. When the boys were little, they moved to Haven, Kansas. In Haven they lived in the country, across the parking lot from the school of which Dan Heibel was principal, which was next to the playground, which was next to their church. In 1971 they moved to Lincoln. The rest of their childhood was spent going to church and school at Calvary Lutheran. In the summers they were part of a group of kids that just ran around the neighborhood. They just had to be home by dark. If they needed to get from one block to the next they would just cut through people's yards. They rarely wore shoes or a shirt in the summer.

"Raising three boys was challenging, but they actually were pretty good," said mother Marj Heibel when asked about her sons. Apparently, Micah could eat, eat, and eat some more. Matt and Mark teased him a lot, even though he was a lot bigger than they were. They loved to play sandlot sports with neighbor kids and to roam the territory around South 52nd Street. When Micah would be our riding his bike, Marj and Dan often heard tires squealing on 48th Street and they assumed that he had crossed the street in front of a car. Once when the LL bus stopped to pick him up, he was standing on the roof by the chimney! Micah liked to eat oranges and, for some reason, would peel them in the desk drawer. They all three got jobs before they were 16 and they worked all through high school and college. Matt always saved all of his money; Mark cashed his checks and put the dollars in his dresser drawer because he didn't trust banks, and Micah would cash his checks and go shopping!