Theda Lange Heinzkill

On the evening of August 26, Theda Heinzkill suffered a heart attack at her apartment, and shortly thereafter she passed away at hospital.Theda was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, on June 27, 1936, and raised in the adjacent town of Sharpsville. She was the first child of Frederick Lange and Helen Bitenz, and they named their daughter after the silent-movie star Theda Bara. As a kid she learned how to tap dance with her brother, Frank Lange. In high school she was a cheerleader. She was the first person in her family to attend college, and graduated from the Edinboro State Teachers College, in Pennsylvania. A few years later, she started a Master of Fine Art Degree in ceramics at the University of Hawaii; unfortunately, she was unable to complete the degree. She taught art and English classes at elementary schools in St. Louis, Missouri, and in Salinas, California. She met her husband, Richard Heinzkill, in St. Louis. They married in April 1967, and moved to Eugene, Oregon, in the summer of the same year. Theda was a docent at the University of Oregon Art Museum in the early 1970's. She designed and stitched bargello-style needlepoint pillows and ornaments and sold them at Maude Kern Arts Center in the 1970's. She gave birth to her son Dan (1969), and her daughter Bernice(1972), and was fully dedicated to raising her beloved children until they left the home she created. She loved words and language and how it could be paradoxically serious and absurd. She taught herself italic calligraphy and had impeccably stylized handwriting. She was married to her husband Richard Heinzkill for 52-years,until his death from cancer in October 2019. She worked numerous years at several knitting stores in Eugene in the 1980's and 1990's.She retired from full-time work at the Eugene Public Library in the early 2000's. She loved the city of London and traveled there on least seven trips with her husband. Theda is survived by her daughter Bernice Heinzkill, and her son Dan Heinzkill, his partner Melissa Evans, and her grandson Theo Heinzkill.A Memorial Service was held Saturday, September 14 at the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Eugene, and she was interred next to her husband at Rest Haven Memorial Park.