Monday, December 14, 2020

Roger Heitschmidt Class 1960

 


Obituary for Roger W. Heitschmidt

 

Roger Red” Heitschmidt, 79, of Chapel Hill, TN passed away at home on Saturday, December 12, 2020.  A family celebration of Rogers life will be held this coming spring. 

Roger was born on December 2, 1941 in Osborne County Kansas, the first of three children of his parents Harold and Wilma Heitschmidt.  He grew up on a farm near Covert, KS.  He graduated from Paradise Rural High School, Paradise, KS in 1960 and from Kansas State University in 1964 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.  He received his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Wichita State University in 1968 while working for Boeing in Wichita.

Roger was always interested in agriculture commodities and as such, he eventually chose to become a commodity broker.  At one time he was the largest broker for Peavy Co. in the United States.  During this time, he had numerous offices throughout the State of Kansas with his home office in Wichita.   He eventually moved his business to Nashville, TN.  Shortly thereafter he retired” from the brokerage business and moved to Charleston, SC where he opened a retail golf store.  He retired from the golf business in 2010.  He and his wife Joyce then moved to Chapel Hill to be nearer family.

Roger loved to feed and watch the birds in his yard and match wits against the squirrels and raccoons that routinely raided the feeders.  He also enjoyed gardening, the outdoors, working on his golf swing, and studying the latest business trends.

Roger married Karen Hudnall in 1959.  Three children were born to this union:  Kim, Shelly, and Jerry.   

He was preceded in death by his parents, Harold and Wilma, and his daughter Shelly.  

He leaves behind his wife Joyce (married in 1995), his daughter Kim Motley and her husband Gregg (Fort Scott, KS),  son Jerry anHd wife Nancy (Athens, GA), brother Rod and wife Sue (Granbury, TX), sister Elaine Vanderlaan and her husband Alfred (Watertown, SD), 9 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren, and a host of relatives, friends and acquaintances.  

Roger never knew a stranger.  He lived life to the fullest which meant family and friends were of paramount importance to him.


Click here for a link to pictures of Roger

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