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BORN
1925
DIED
2022
Heinz Heckeroth Obituary
October 11, 1925 - March 6, 2022
Sacramento, California - Born in Wiesbaden Germany, Heinz immigrated to the US with his family in 1927. They settled in the Eagle Rock area of Los Angeles. He knew from a young age that he wanted to be a highway engineer.
Heinz served in WWII, stationed in the south Pacific at an engineer depot that supplied the Allied forces. After the war, he studied civil engineering at the University of Redlands. During this time, he met his bride, Eva Hope Ford, at a ballroom dance class. They were married in August of 1947.
Heinz's professional career was distinguished by its variety, accomplishments, and timing. During his three decades with what is now called the California Department of Transportation, Heinz was the lead engineer for a monumental Los Angeles freeway interchange in the early 1960s, helped write legislation that transformed the Division of Highways into Caltrans in the 1970s, was District 7 Director during the L.A. Olympics and afterward served as Chief Deputy Director of Caltrans in the 1980s.
After he retired in 1988, Heinz founded the California Transportation Foundation, CTF. The next 30 years, he volunteered as CTF's first Executive Director. In 2019, Heinz reflected on an organization that continues to aid families of fallen and injured workers and provides scholarships to young people pursuing careers in transportation; "I'm really grateful that I lived long enough to see the fruition of the vision that I had for the foundation."
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 14th, at 1 pm at Saint Marks United Methodist Church, 2391 St Mark's Way, Sacramento, CA 95864. Livestream: https://www.YouTube.com/c/StMarksUMCsac/featured
Heinz is survived by his Children: Stephen Heckeroth (spouse Christiane Heckeroth), Gwen Heckeroth, Marty Heckeroth (spouse Shan Morrow) and Jenny Heckeroth (spouse Linwood Gill), his sister: Eleanor Voiles, 8 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his wife, Eva Hope, in 2010.
Donations in Heinz' name be made to: CTF, 9500 Kiefer Blvd. PO Box 276828, Sacramento, CA 95827-6828,www.the-ctf.org. Or to SMUMC, 2391 St Marks Way, Sacramento, Ca 95864, https://stmarkssumc.com/donate/details
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for Heinz Heckeroth
2 Entries
.
May 20, 2022
Grief can be so hard, but our special memories help us cope. Remembering you and your loved one today and always.
Linda and Mehdi Morshed
May 2, 2022
To his children:
Your father was open, receptive, and fair when I was a shiny new DOT employee who went in to get his input on a reorganization plan for what would become CALTRANS. He was respectful of me and my youthful, often overconfident approach. Over the years, I became friends with him and your mother, seeing them often at various transportation functions. They were wonderful together, and separately, and are greatly missed. I was extremely honored when he invited me to be on the CTF board and I was proud that he considered me a worthy addition for his "baby." He was a rare man who treated everyone equally and I always loved working with him. I´m so sorry for your loss.
Linda Morshed
To Heinz´ family-
I worked closely with Heinz over many years and always found him to be thoughtful, intelligent, and open to solving problems in innovative ways. Compromise was not outside of his comfort zone but he was no pushover. We always found productive ways to move forward and he was very rare in that regard. A truly wonderful man who often helped the Senate and therefore, the State of California. I was very lucky to know him and am sorry you have to lose him.
Mehdi Morshed
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