1/01/07
My Father and friend, William Charles Heller Sr. passed away at 1:00pm after a long battle with cancer. Dad was always very supportive of my musical endeavors from day-1 and many of you have probably seen him at one show or another. He will be sorely missed. Thanks to all the support we've received especially from the members of Living Hope Wesleyan Church.
There is a photo of him added to the image gallery.
See you later, Pop!
William Charles Heller, Sr.
February 21st,1924-January 1st, 2007
4/4/07
This is my sister's tribute to dad which she wrote and read at the funeral. This is a special tribute to the dad I grew up with...(Thanks Andra)
I would like to begin by telling you something that you already know: Bill Heller was a terrific guy.
But that’s not exactly what I’d like to speak about today. I want to tell you something else: Bill Heller
was a terrific dad.
Dad was born on February 21, 1924, in New Jersey, to his parents, Myrtle and Frank Heller. Two
more different personalities would be hard to imagine. Frank was a stern, closely-held kind of fellow,
of German descent. He was a movie-theater projectionist by trade. Myrtle was the oldest of 6 children.
She was just over 5 feet tall, full of fun and affection, and not yet 18 years old when my father was born.
As you might suspect, Dad inherited traits from both.
On the Frank-side, he had a bit of a temper, and was quick to yell. He took his disciplinary duties
seriously, always holding my brother Bill and I accountable for our actions. He was just as quick,
however, to forgive us, and he never bore a grudge. He taught us to work hard, and always do our
best, but he never expected more than we were capable of. He didn’t like us to talk at the dinner table,
and he expected us to eat what my mother prepared. He was cheap – I mean thrifty – with a dollar.
I recall trips downtown, where we would cruise the streets looking for a parking meter that had time
still available. At an early age, I was expected to budget my expenses, requiring me to plan my fall
wardrobe in the summer before school started. Underneath all that, though, he was extremely generous
– we never lacked for anything. Above all, he respected my brother and me as individuals, wanting
nothing more from us than to be good citizens and happy people.
On the Myrtle-side, my father loved to spend time with us as kids. He took us sledding on Roosevelt hill,
and taught us to ice skate at Ellis Park. He loved to fish, and often took us with him. I always loved it
when he brought home his catch, dumped it in the kitchen sink, and cut open the stomach so that we could
see what the fish had eaten for lunch.
He took us to the restaurant at Armstrong’s department store for treats called “Tall Texans.” These were
ice cream sodas in a glass the size of a large flower vase. They held about 4 scoops of ice cream and close
to half a quart of soda. There was one for each of us; no sharing expected. If we were able to finish it and
asked for more, he’d order us another, heedless of the resulting stomach ache. To this day, I am a
bottomless pit where ice cream is concerned.
He loved to watch TV – especially sports. Oh, and Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Julia Child.
His Julia-impression was right on the mark and hysterically funny. He also loved movies –
a favorite was 2001: A Space Odyssey. It challenged him on many levels, and provoked him to think
deeply about the origins of the universe and our place in the world.
He also loved music, everything from jazz to classical to the Beatles and Three Dog Night. He could
spend hours with us at the The Record Shoppe at Lindale Plaza, as it was then known, where they
allowed us to listen to a seemingly endless number of 60s pop songs before we shelled out our allowance
money to buy the 45s.
I am deeply grateful for all that my father exhibited - honesty, integrity, responsibility, fairness, thrift,
generosity, compassion and, above all, his love as a father. I think that both my brother and I have inherited
some of those same traits, and I hope that we are able to pass them on to others, as my father did.
May he rest in peace.
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