William Hardy Heaney

i played rugby with bill at amherst. a great adventurer.

I didn’t know Bill really well, but we shared similar interests in anthropology and, before I went to study rural migrants in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, I read his dissertation. We later connected at meetings and he was always generous with his knowledge and encouraging about my work. I was particularly interested in migration between rural areas and Bill was able to tell me a lot about the migration history of the people with whom he worked. In the 1990s, as a newly graduated PhD,...

Bill was a kind, gentle soul
With an easy smile for all. My memories were not only at Yale, but also at Boyd’s Fishing Camp in Wisconsin where my husband’s family has enjoyed generations of fishing and family fun. It’s been 10 years since we saw Bill at Boyd’s, but so enjoyed catching up. I extend a warm embrace to all his family and know they were graced by a loving spirit which we were all blessed to know.

For some reason this message from Bill in July 2019 appeared as I was scrolling thru my text messages today. I hope he would not mind if I shared it but it gives insight into the person he was and his relationship with my aunt Charlotte aka Bunks:
“Chuck, hello and a Happy July 4th to you and yours!

By any chance did I miss the materials you sent re Charlotte’s passing. I often think of her, the last of my parents generation I knew well and enjoyed her company immensely....

Bill was always there for me, he was a brother. Early in our youth we leaned on each other, shared thoughts, frustrations and visions. Yes, we lived in Oshkosh and had many mutual friends, but we both loved to travel, this separated us from our community. It was there that I learned to lean on and trust Bill. He always understood.

My Mother saw the many fine points of this sartorial thinker. Together they shared many dinners and discussions. I never figured out how he knew...

Bill was a member of St James Episcopal Parish on the Big Island. I met him while volunteering at the church's weekly Community Meal. Bill was a humble and gentle man, always wanting to help, and always with a camera close by. I remember him one time following a feral hen and a dozen chicks around the church grounds, taking pictures and marveling how she could care for so many little ones. Rest in peace my friend, you entered into glory way too soon for us in Waimea.

Like me and a number of other anthropologists, Bill Heaney did fieldwork in Papua New Guinea. Several years ago he came up with the idea to organize a session on First Fieldwork in the Pacific between the years 1960-1985. He invited me to be his co-organizer. After a number of sessions at the Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania, he and I and other participants produced a collection, which I edited and which the University of Hawai'i Press published in 2018. Bill wrote about his...

Bill, Ken and Pete taking a Haagen Dazs break at the Slide Inn on the Madison River during one of our many fishing trips to Montana from NY.
Bill was a true friend, always fun to be with and a truly great fly fisherman. I will always remember those trips and Bill’s socks dry out of the car windows as we motored around the west.

So sad to hear this. I enjoyed getting to know Bill thru my aunt Charlotte Mundy who lived in Columbia faculty housing, and I believe his mom was a Ponkapoag Campfire Girl with my aunt in Oshkosh. Bill is at the top of the page of Acknowledgements of those supporting the 2003 book “Oshkosh at 150” where the author Michael Goc wrote in the introduction: “The support, patience, and editorial input of William Heaney is much appreciated. Part of a three-generation Oshkosh newspaper family, Dr....