Arthur A. Heinze

1940 - 2025

Arthur A. Heinze
Born: April 14, 1940 in Sterling, IL
Died: July 11, 2025 in Sterling, IL
STERLING - Arthur 'Art" Adam Heinze of Sterling, IL, age 85, passed away surrounded by family and friends on July 11, 2025. He was born on April 14, 1940, in Rock Falls, IL, to Adam and Irene Heinze.
Art was a very driven and hardworking man from a young age. He loved to work, and if you knew Art, he was always working. He was a very proud man and to say he didn't have a good life would be an understatement. He accomplished much, and made his dreams as a little boy a reality.
Art graduated from Rock Falls High School in 1958, where he broke records in cross country (2013 Rock Falls High School Athletic Hall of Fame inductee) and was a huge asset to their baseball team. Shortly after high school, Art started his own construction business, Heinze Construction Co., in which he built two subdivisions from the ground up (Heinze Dr and Wiker Dr), along with a couple hundred homes total in his lifetime. He wasn't one to ask for help much, so a majority of his homes were built by himself.
Art was a big believer in purchasing land over stocks. Throughout his lifetime, he invested in 3 farms (1 with a lake) and spent his time on his land farming and doing what he loved most: hunting, fishing, and gardening. He was an avid hunter, to say the least. He made "Pope & Young" many times, and "Boone & Crockett" 6 times, with a bow. With decades of bow hunting experience, his greatest adventures of record hunts included his Alaskan Brown Bear, Elk, Caribou, Black Bear, Cougar, and Deer. Along with this, Art was also an owner of trophy hunter products, who manufactured wildlife attractant. When Art wasn't hunting, farming, or building homes, he spent his time on the side playing softball, basketball, volleyball and wallyball within the community.
Art's last dream before he passed was to write a book on his greatest hunting endeavors. Legend of a Little Big Man: How I Got 6 Boone & Crockett with a Bow, was published in Spring of 2025. He was a small-town boy with a dream, and a man who achieved it.
Art is survived by: 2 siblings, brother Rodney (Sylvia) Heinze, and sister Sandra (Paul) Ringstorm; 3 children, daughters Lorie (Brian) Nutt and Lisa (Jon) Carel, and son Brett (Jeanne) Heinze; 9 grandchildren (8 grandsons, 1 granddaughter), Gavin and Zoe Nutt, Noah, Maverick, and Liam Carel, and Sam, Ben, Matthew, and Jonah Heinze; and long-time girlfriend, Kathy Farley.
Art Heinze: Father, Brother, Grandfather, Friend, and Partner, we will remember you always.
Visitation will be held from 2:00-4:00pm, on Sunday, July 13, 2025, at McDonald Funeral Home in Rock Falls. Cremation rites will then be accorded.
Online condolences may be made at www.mcdonadlfuneralhomes.com