Thomas J. Heigh Sr.

ELKINS PARK, PA — Army WWII Veteran, Thomas J. Heigh, Sr., passed away peacefully at the age of 94 on Thursday, April 7th. He was the beloved husband of the late Dorothy (nee Pilch), and is survived by his sister and nephews, Katherine ("Kay") (the late James) Fox of Oahu, Hawaii, Christopher and Paul Fox; he was a kind brother and uncle to the late Robert ("Bob") (Louise) Heigh of Riverside, NJ and nieces, Susan, Nancy and Shirley. He was a loving father to his six children, Patricia (the late Albert) Hosefros of Doylestown; Randall (Hillaire) of Brigantine, NJ; Kevin (Linda) of Oreland; Thomas, Jr. (Joanne) of Horsham; Stephen (Ania) of Philadelphia; and the late Mitchell Heigh. Thomas was the dearest grandfather of thirteen grandchildren, Kristin Hosefros (Micheal) Kleban, Gregory Hosefros, Jared (Vanessa) Hosefros, Dawn Heigh (Jason) McGee, Bryan (Sharon) Heigh, Jamie Heigh (Todd) Snellenburg, Matthew Heigh, Kevin Heigh, Mark Heigh, Michael Heigh, Christopher Heigh, Thomas Heigh and Anna Heigh. He also leaves behind nine great-grandchildren, Zachary, Mackenzie, Samantha, Payton, Keegan, Lilianna, Max, Mia and Roman. Born in Camden, New Jersey on February 26, 1923 to the late Katherine (Gasper) and the late Stephen Randall Heigh, Thomas attended Camden Catholic High School from 1937 to1941, majoring in Engineering Drafting. After high school, he attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh from 1941 to1942. He studied Industrial Design and finished with a rank of number one in his program. Thomas, a veteran of World War II, reported to boot camp in Biloxi, Mississippi in April of 1943. He served in Europe from 1944 until January of 1946 Intelligence and Plans Section of the Engineers Battalion, 69th Infantry Division, Ninth Army. Alongside the at the time unknown but now famed Pop Artist, Roy Lichtenstein, he prepared construction and topical drawings, created terrain surveys, and reconnoitered for military movements within the war zone in France, Belgium and Germany. While serving he also was trained and certified to operate an odograph, a navigation system based on the odometer and magnetic compass used for reconnaissance and mapping. For his service to our country, he was awarded the American Theater Ribbon, the European-African-Middle Eastern Ribbon, a Victory Medal and a Good Conduct Medal. In 1945, Thomas was awarded a Certificate of Merit for the European Theater of Operations, United States Army, Technician Fifth Grade, issued by Lt. Colonel Harry W. Holmlin, Commanding Officer of the 269th Engineering Combat Battalion "in recognition of Conspicuously Meritorious and Outstanding Performance of Military Duty, demonstrating superior qualities of ingenuity and skill as a draftsman in the preparation of training charts used for the Battalion Information program." After the war, Thomas continued his education at the Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts) from 1946 to 1949, as an Interior Design major, and also at Drexel University, from 1950 to 1952, in their Architectural Design program. While attending classes throughout both of these programs, Thomas worked as Store Designer and Planner for John Wanamaker, designing interiors for the historic Center City Philadelphia store. In 1955, Thomas moved to Michigan to begin working in the automobile industry. He was an Advanced Stylist with Ford Motor Company in Dearbon where he designed future cars under George Walker and Alex Tremulus. From 1956 to 1957, he continued to work in Michigan but designed missiles rather than automobiles, working for Chrysler's Missile Division. Shortly after, Thomas received an offer to work as a Designer for Cunneen & Company, and subsequently moved to Philadelphia to lead their Design and Advertising Division from 1957 to 1962. In 1962, he was hired by ARA Services, Inc. (ARAMARK) as the Design Director for Facilities Planning. One of the highlights of this era of his career was being hired by Ed Snider to design the Philadelphia Flyer's Blue Line Club in the Philadelphia Spectrum arena. From 1971 until 1981 he served as the Director of Space Planning for all 150 field offices, and headquarters, for Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company in Philadelphia. From 1981 until his retirement in 1987, he was Chief Interior Designer for Parisi, Inc. (Parisi-Royal, Inc.) also in Philadelphia. During his retirement, Thomas continued to build architectural scale models for clients, some of which included the Archway Schools of New Jersey and the Louisiana Superdome, as well as a few other professional athletic stadiums. The discipline and loyalty Thomas learned in the Army through his service never left him; the creativity and artistic talent that he worked tirelessly to develop inspired his friends and colleagues throughout his lifetime, and all of his attributes and contributions will continue to be a source of pride for his family for generations to come. A funeral will be held at Holy Cross Catholic Church, 140 E Mt Airy Ave, Philadelphia, PA. A viewing for family and friends will begin at 10:00 AM. A Mass with the Rev. Paul M. Kennedy officiating will be celebrated immediately following the viewing at 11:00 AM. Interment will be private at a later date at Washington Crossing National Cemetery, Newtown, PA. As Thomas had a love of animals, the family requests that expressions of sympathy take the form of contributions to the Morris Animal Refuge, an open admission shelter dedicated to helping the homeless, abandoned and unwanted pets of the Philadelphia region located at 1242 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147.