Richard Heyden, a clarinetist, taught music at Columbia Adventist Academy in Battleground, Washington, following his graduation from Walla Walla College, now University, in 1969 with a B.Mus. in music education. He subsequently taught at Far Eastern Academy in Singapore and at Pacific Union College, where, after completing a degree in nursing at PUC in 1986, he entered that profession. Heyden completed a doctorate in 1992. He was a professor of nursing administration at the University of Texas for two years before his death in 1993.