Phil HEFT

1931 - 2025

Apr 23, 1931 - Nov 21, 2025

Philip Heft was born April 23, 1931, to August (Gus) and Mary (McKee) Heft, in Tacoma, Washington. He was an only child, who creatively entertained himself. Once, when he was experimenting at home, he set up an electric circuit in the bathroom and asked his mother to connect two spoons. The circuit worked, and she got shocked. His punch line for this story was: "I didn't know she could jump so high. She was hitting me before she hit the ground."

In 1949, He graduated from Lincoln High School in Tacoma, where he just wanted to be in the shop. To accomplish this, he would make wisecracks at the beginning of math class, and the teacher would tell him to get out. He would happily oblige and head back to the shop. At the end of the semester, the math teacher told Phil he would give him a C if he never took another math class.

Ironically, math and science were Phil's calling. He graduated from Pacific Lutheran University in 1953 with a math and science teaching degree, and then attended Penn State University on a fellowship with the Air Force, where he earned a meteorology degree. The following three years, he served his country by giving pilots weather briefings as they flew in and out of Morocco, and then later, Portland, Oregon.

After being honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1957, he took a teaching job at Clover Park High School in Tacoma. His interest in math and science drove him to take summer classes from the National Science Foundation, where he eventually earned a master's in teaching. One of these classes was held in Moscow, Idaho, where in the summer of 1959, he met Marie Allen. They married that same summer. They loved and supported one another through 66 years of marriage.

Later, he took a break from teaching at Clover Park High School, and he and Marie returned to Moscow, where he attended classes and earned a master's in mathematics.

In 1965, he left Clover Park to become a math professor at Green River Community College, where he stayed until his retirement in 1996. The classes he liked teaching most were linear algebra and differential equations. His words of wisdom for his daughter Elizabeth, who taught high school math, were to ignore the demands from the administration, teach solid lessons, and treat the students with kindness and respect.

Phil was not just an intellect; he was also an activist. He joined the Veterans for Peace, Greater Seattle, Chapter 92 in 2003 and later served as both the Vice President and Director-at-Large for the organization. In the fall of 2012, he worked with the ACLU and won a lawsuit that allowed his VFP group to march in the city of Auburn's veterans' parade. The City had initially denied his group's participation because the VFP's message didn't "meet the goals and purpose of the parade." Phil's statement in the official complaint read, "Marching in the parade is important because it gives people the chance to see that there are veterans who are opposed to militarism."

Phil also loved an adventure. He and Marie regularly hiked and rode their bikes on trails near their home in Kent, Washington. He climbed Mount Adams, Mount Rainier, and Mount St. Helens before and after the 1980 eruption. The pair also traveled extensively to countries such as Kenya, Tanzania, Ecuador, Chile, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Israel, and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. During these trips, they would often stay in accommodations provided by a local language school or family, and then travel by bus to places of interest.

Perhaps this extensive travel created his compassion for people who were not just like him. He and Marie welcomed extended family, foster children, refugees, and exchange students into their home. Holiday meals were not just for family. They were also occasions to welcome acquaintances who had no place to go.

Phil will be remembered by his family as a man who loved them deeply, believed in their abilities to succeed, and supported them through hard times. When his children, John and Elizabeth, were growing up, he built model airplanes, rode dirt bikes, and worked on cars with John, and hiked and skied with Elizabeth. Most of his grandchildren remember him taking them camping, hiking, and helping them with homework.

Phil may have been an only child, but he ended up being a part of a very large family. Marie had six siblings, and they all had kids and grandkids. He was loved by all of his extended family and had a large impact on his nieces and nephews.

He will be greatly missed, especially by his wife Marie; his son John Heft and daughter Elizabeth Melville; his grandchildren Michael Roper, Carolynn (Heft) McGuire, Victoria Heft, Hayden Heft, Oakley Melville, Tracy Melville, Rose Melville; foster-son Jose Canales, his wife Amy and their son Joseph; and great-grandchildren Amber, Wyatt, Alexis, Allyson, and Hailey.

Please share your memories of Phil on his tribute wall at www.hennesseyfh.com.