Norman Heimgartner

Obituary of Norman Louis Heimgartner

Norman was born on May 10, 1930 in Tanawanda, NY. He was the second of three children, with his sister, Shirley, being the elder by one year and his younger sister, Dorothy, two years after.

 

Norm graduated from Kibler High School in 1948 and entered New York State University at Buffalo. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree June 10, 1952. While there, he was a member of the Delta Kappa fraternity and a member of the A Cappella Choir for three years.

 

At the end of October 1952, Norman received his induction notice to enter the United States Army.  He was stationed in Germany in counter intelligence in the Classified Documents section.  He had Ultra clearance, which was rare for one of his rank.

 

After being honorably discharged from the Army, Norman applied for graduate studies to Teacher’s College, Columbia University and began in the summer of 1955, graduating with his Master of Arts Degree in 1958.  His tuition, books and dormitory were paid by the GI Bill.

 

In the fall of 1957, Norm was informed by his close friends, Chaz and Nan Guzzetta, that a new resident from Denver, Colorado had joined the staff of Buffalo Children’s Hospital.  Her name was Jacqueline Jorgensen and she liked classical music.  It was implied, since he was still single, that he would call Dr. Jorgensen for a date and take her to Kleinhans Music Hall.  Norm naturally said, “of course,” and met Jackie in front of the hospital for their first date.  Norm and Jackie were married on April 26, 1959. Their first son, Christopher, arrived in April 1960 at Buffalo Children’s where Jackie worked.

 

Norm and Jackie made the decision to move to Denver in 1960. During that year, he became a doctoral student and took night classes at the University of Northern Colorado.

 

Roderic, his second son, was born October 1961; his daughter, Erica, followed in August 1962, with his second daughter, Margrethe (Greta), in January 1966.  His family was now complete.

 

Norman completed his course work in 1967 for his doctorate degree and the family moved to Greeley, CO where he could continue his research at the Laboratory School at the University of Northern Colorado.  In 1974, Norm accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Education at the University of Puget Sound and the family then moved to the state of Washington. Norm continued to teach education as a tenured professor at UPS until his retirement in 1992.

 

In the fall of 1969, Norman began his long association with the Gesell Institute of Child Development at Yale.  In September 1992, Norman became a member of the Board of Directors of the Gesell Institute and served as Secretary to the Board for the next nine years. He continued to be a member of the National Lecture Staff for close to another 20 years.

 

On a trip to Asia with his wife in the early 80s, Norm wanted to tour one of the universities in Kunming China and was allowed to visit Yunnan Teachers University, which was not too far from the hotel.  When he walked into the University, he was immediately stopped by a guard; the guard then pointed to the Foreign Languages Department.  Norm knocked on a door.  The man who answered was a Professor Guo and he spoke excellent English.  They spoke for a moment or two and he then turned to the class and announced that their English speaker for the day had arrived.  Norm was rather stunned but spoke about student life in America for the next two hours.  The outcome of this unusual event was that he was asked to return and teach for the 1984-85 academic year as a visiting professor. After completing his teaching role, Norm still took numerous trips back to China and worked with other universities there for the next four decades.

 

During the first decade of the 21st Century, Norman made 29 trips to Thailand and 14 trips to China.  In addition, he gave 62 workshops for the Gesell Institute.  Needless to say, United Airlines was very happy with him.

 

Norman was also very active with both the Seattle Opera and Tacoma Opera organizations and was a Board member of Tacoma Opera. In addition, he found a church that he absolutely loved, the International Chinese Christian Church of Tacoma.  He was very active in the Church community and rarely missed a Sunday service…unless he was galivanting around the globe.

 

In 2018, Norm and Jackie decided to make one final move to Olympia, to be closer to their daughter, Erica. They moved in July of 2018 to the retirement community of Brookdale Olympia East. Shortly after the move, Jackie fell and broke her hip and passed away on August 1, 2018.

 

Norm was diagnosed in July of 2019 with bladder cancer and, after a brief battle, succumbed to the disease on September 11, 2019. He leaves behind his children, Chris (Jodi) Heimgartner and their two children, Lindsay (Chrissy) and Ian; Rod (Kelly) Heimgartner and their three children, Samantha (Derrek), Alex and Lucas; Erica Iversen (Eric); and Greta. He also is survived by two great-grandchildren; his sister, Shirley; numerous nieces and nephews; and scores of friends.

 

Norman’s family wishes to thank everyone for the extraordinary care given to him by the compassionate teams at Brookdale and Hospice.

 

A private family service will be planned at a future date.

 

INSTEAD OF FLOWERS, Norm wished those who want to honor his memory make a donation to his church: International Chinese Christian Church of Tacoma, 5025 N. Pearl St., Tacoma, WA 98407 (reference Norman Heimgartner in subject line).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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