Charles Sumner Heidel was born on November 14, 1887, in Valley City, North Dakota, the son of Charles Edward and Hattie (Weiser) Heidel. He had two brothers Albert and Ewart Heidel and grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He graduated in 1910 from the University of Minnesota School of Mines. The family moved to Montana sometime after 1910. In 1926 he received a Civil Engineer degree from Montana State College. During his summers while at the Minnesota School of Mines, he worked at the Black Rock and Alex cott mines in Butte. He worked as an assistant to the State Engineer during the 1910s. He was appointed State Engineer in 1922. As part of his duties as State Engineer he administered the Carey Land Act Board. In 1927 he left state employment and went to work as a hydraulic engineer for the United States Geological Survey (USGS). He continued in that capacity until 1957. He then became field representative of the Montana Water Resources Division. When he retired in 1963 he received the U. S. Dept. of the Interior's Distinguished Service Award. He also served as chairman of the Irrigation District Bond Commission.

From 1919 to 1934 Heidel served with the U. S. Army Reserve 329th Engineers. He was active in the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Montana Society of Engineers, the American Geophysical Engineers, and other professional organization. He was also active in several Masonic orders. On his retirement he became a volunteer with the Masonic Service Association, visiting veterans at the Veterans Administration hospital at Fort Harrison.

Charles Sumner Heidel married Stella Marie Griggs in Minnesota on November 19, 1913. They had one son Sumner G. Heidel, born in 1917. Stella Heidel died on July 10, 1957, and C. S. Heidel died in Helena, February 14, 1970.

Charles Edward Heidel, father of Charles Sumner Heidel, was born in Minnesota in July 1861, the son of August and Mary Heidel. He married Hattie Weiser in Skakopee, Minnesota, on October 5, 1886. He received bachellor's and master's degrees from Central Wesleyan College in Missouri in 1883 and 1886. He was appointed to the North Dakota Board of Regents in 1887 and reappointed in 1889 and 1890. During the 1890s he served as President of the Board of Control of the North Dakota State Normal School in Valley City. H moved to Minneapolis in the late 1890s and went to work for the Northwest Improvement Company. He spent time in Montana in the early 1900s pursuing an involvement with various mines in Butte. He also worked from 1910-1913 as a Montana salesman for the Waterbury Implement Company. He died in Helena on May 26, 1914.