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By Howie Levy
“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind,
flight to the imagination, and life to everything.”
–
Plato
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Jim
Heitler
passed suddenly on October 7th, 2020, from a pulmonary
embolism at age 77. Jim was a bright, universally liked and widely popular
Oceanside High School
Sailor.
Although we had not seen each other for about 30 years, we stayed in
touch, and he was a lifelong, dear friend of mine since
I met him in our
jr.
high band in 1954. We were 11. Now, like many of us, I feel the loss of my old friend deeply.
Jim was born in New York City but raised in Brooklyn
(curiously, right next door to my first cousin) until the
Heitler family moved to
Oceanside in the early
1950s. |
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As many will remember, along with the
equally popular and lovely Bev Barnes,
Jim was voted the best looking in our senior class. He was
also a talented musician who played trumpet in our school band
and was a member of our varsity tennis team. While in school,
Jim was the only
OHS
Sailor in a near local band
called the Swing Kings. Many of you may remember that they
played
rock 'n' roll music at Saturday night dances frequently held at the
Oceanside Jewish Center.
(Jim used to tell me
that
rock
'n' roll was easy to play because it was all based on three
chords. I didn't believe him.) |
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Jr. high
graduation
(1957) |
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Circa
1956 |
In high school |
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The
music you
should be hearing when you open this page was recorded by
our
OHS
orchestra, conducted by
our music teacher,
Allan Segal, at a concert in February 1960
and features Jim on lead trumpet. (The same
selection
¾
from the
Broadway show, Gigi
¾
was also
played at our
graduation exercises in
June,)
Jim gave me this
souvenir album recording
of this 1960 high school concert. |
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A typical reaction of our
Sailor
classmates to Jim's sudden
passing came from our fraternity brother, Bob Rubin, who
wrote,
"My
condolences
to all who were so close to Jim. I knew him for a short
time and realized how special he was. Smart, talented, and more
handsome than any of us."
Upon viewing an earlier version of this page, Bob added:
Wow! What a full and meaningful life. He obviously knew life was
precious and filled his life with love, creativity, passion,
family and joy."
Jim and
his beloved wife of 57 years, Esther.
raised two children, David and Margot, and
had six grandchildren. Jim is also survived by his loving
brother, Richard (better known as Dick,
OHS
'62). Although most of the family photos and some others
shown below were provided by son, David, Dick is the source of much of
the textual content of this page.
Jim was a fan of this
website and
was happy to attend our
30-year class reunion
— probably
the last time I saw him:
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Seen here in 1990
with
two of our most beautiful classmates, Linda
Strauss and Doreen Silverstein.
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WHO HE WAS:
Throughout the
66 years I knew him, Jim was always a
genuinely likeable
guy —
kind and respectful to everyone. He
will always be remembered as an empathetic
and ethical, sensitive,
generous, caring and loving man.
I just don't
have enough adjectives to describe my
friend, Jim Heitler.
After Jim's
passing, neighbors in Michigan
wrote this observation about their first
encounter with the Heitlers in 1989:
"...
we noticed this one couple that took
walks, hand in hand, most every evening.
How sweet it was to meet Jim and Esther
— neighbors
with constant smiles and friendly waves."
Jim
had a a terrific sense of humor and a
lifelong
joie de vivre,
characterized by love of nature, travel,
politics, food,
fine arts, family and friends, for whom he
was a constant source of strength and
support. But other than family, music, for
sure, was his deepest passion.
And as you can see in the picture above,
what great hair he had!
As is evident in many of the photos that
follow, Jim was also a devoted family man, who
deeply loved, and was deeply loved by,
Esther and all of their many family members.
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After
high school,
Jim attended undergraduate school at Antioch
College in Ohio where he met, and in 1963
married, Esther. At Antioch, he took up the guitar
and folk singing with a trio of college friends who called
themselves
The Davis Street Wanderers . |
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U. of M. Department of Psychology
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After being graduated from Antioch, Jim went
on to
earn a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of
Michigan, and for the rest of their lives, he and Esther remained in Ann Arbor.
There, they raised
their two children, David and Margot. Jim joined the faculty of
U. of M. while he grew his private practice as a
clinical psychologist. He then continued on the adjunct
faculty for 22 years. A professional colleague
said, Jim "was respectful of his patients." |
In his retirement,
Jim and Esther divided their time between their primary home
in Ann Arbor, and two vacation homes in Longboat
Key, Florida, and picturesque Arbois
in the heart of wine country in eastern France, where they
remodeled and maintained a beautiful, 250-year old, stone
house.
While living and working in Michigan, Jim's undiminished
love for music brought him back to the trumpet, and
for many years,
he
played classical music with the amateur Ann Arbor Brass Quintet.
But sadly, in 2012, Jim was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease,
which ended his ability to play. So he then turned to
another of his many talents,
and
he became an avid and prolific watercolor artist.
The artist at work (December 2019)
Samples of Jim's beautiful watercolors
Scenes near the Heitlers' place in France
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Biking
in France (2009) |
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At age 47
in
about 1990 (look at all that hair!) |
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And still
good-lookin' at age 66! |
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Surrounded by
women! (November 2018) |
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Jim and Dick were extremely fortunate that their loving
parents, Florence and George (both of whom I remember fondly
from our
Oceanside days), remained
remarkably healthy and vibrant almost throughout
their long lives until both passed a month apart in 2017 at
ages 97 and 101, respectively. (In fact, George Heitler
played tennis until he was 99.)
)
Above:
celebrating
Florence's 90th birthday with George in 2009
(Jim's hair must have come from Florence!)
Below: a group of
family Thanksgivings between
2010 and 2018
2010
2015
2016
2018 |
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More photos with brother,
Dick: |
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Photos with Esther: |
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with two grandbabies
(David's twins): |
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and with son, David: |
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Esther with daughter, Margot: |
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More photos
with
Margot: |
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November 2010
May 2017 |
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with Margot's beautiful daughter: |
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Pinellas Park Florida 33782 |
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More photos
with David: |
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“If music be the food of love, play on.”
–
William Shakespeare |
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Jim's son, David,
fully embraced his Dad's passion for music in choosing his
career as a musician, songwriter and teacher of music. He wrote and recorded a very moving musical
memorial tribute to Jim
called "Big Shoes to Fill," a heartfelt expression
of the deep love and admiration of a son for his
Dad.
Click here to listen
(and turn the volume up).
In
December 2020, in recognition of his late Dad's 78th
birthday, David also made a 12-minute memorial musical video
slideshow in which Jim and Esther's
joie de vivre
and love for family are most palpable.
The slideshow features some of the foregoing photos and
many, many more and a soundtrack of some of Jim's (and
David's) music and voices. The soundtrack ends most
appropriately with David's performance of his composition
entitled "Family Harmony."
Click here to view and listen
on YouTube. (Watch for photos of Jim and Dick as boys in
front of their
Oceanside
home.) |
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Come back to this special memorial page now and then
when you are thinking of Jim or to see if anything
has been added.
And if you would like to add anything about Jim, please write me.
Classmates
and other visitors are invited to submit material for a special
memorial page like this
for any other
departed classmate. Just e-mail it to me.
Howie
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