Arthur Stearns Heller

Art Heller was a humble, godly man with great wisdom and a deep faith in God.
A member of West Shore Free Church in Mechanicsburg, Art served in children's ministry with the 1-to 2-year-olds. He built relationships with homeless people he would see regularly in his community, taking time to talk, learn about them, bring them food, and share the gospel. He also volunteered at Mission Central, packing food and then bringing it to refugees in the Mechanicsburg area. He served on the church's care team, which gave him the opportunity to provide rides for those who needed them. For many years before that, Art babysat infants and toddlers (who loved him!), so their moms could attend a class for young moms that his wife, Ruth, taught.
Art and Ruth celebrated fifty years of marriage last July. When they were dating, Art had Ruth memorize all the players on the New York Mets, their numbers, and positions. Art even proposed to Ruth at a Mets game.
Some of Art's hobbies included collecting political memorabilia, gardening, watching Mets games, and collecting coins and stamps. He was knowledgeable about current events and politics, and could always name the district and state of every senator and congressman. Since he was a teenager, Art enjoyed investing in stocks and checking on them daily. He and Ruth loved to travel, with trips to Scotland, England, Canada, Hawaii, Alaska, and summer family time in Cape May, New Jersey.
Art grew up in Maplewood, New Jersey. He graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in history and served in the U.S. Army from 1967-69. He worked for thirty-seven years at Prudential Insurance Company, first in Newark, New Jersey, and then in Florham Park. Several times, he was awarded outstanding achievement in Guaranteed Products. He retired in 2006 as a Senior Manager, Contract Analyst for Prudential.
Art's favorite times were those spent with his family, which included four children (Melissa, Jon, Amy, and Stephanie), their four spouses (Justin, Martha, Joe, and Dan), ten grandchildren (Michaela, Bayley, Jamie, Brennan, Jonas, Callie, Eli, Isaac, Malcolm, and Annabeth) who loved him, and one sister, Margaret Petschel. Art was preceded in death by his parents, Arthur Thomas and Jane Creigh (Stearns) Heller; one sister, Elizabeth Carabillo; and one brother-in-law, Michael Petschel. All who knew him will have many memories of him sitting listening with such deep care and a twinkle in his eye. He kept us all laughing with his great sense of humor.
Art's primary aim in life was to serve his Savior, Jesus Christ, at home and at work. He would say too that his life's goal was to be "the best son, husband, dad, and grandfather." His family knows that in his faithful, gentle way, he succeeded.
A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 27, 2023, at West Shore Free Church, 1345 Williams Grove Road Mechanicsburg, PA 17055. A private interment will be held at an earlier date in Mt. Zion Cemetery at Churchtown. A visitation will be held from 10:00 a.m. until the time of the service on Tuesday at the church.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in memory of Art to Firm Foundations Romania, c/o Group One Consulting, Inc. 13405 Folsom Blvd. Suite 511 Folsom, CA 95630 or to Hospice of Central PA 1320 Linglestown Road Harrisburg, PA 17110.
To read the full obituary or to sign the guestbook, please visit www.HoffmanFH.com.