Obituary: Jack Heimerdinger

Jack Heimerdinger, husband of Elizabeth Fenton and father of Christina, Craig, Amy and Peter, died on Thursday, March 21, 2013, after battling myelodysplastic syndrome. Jack was born on December 7, 1936 to Alice and Oscar Heimerdinger in Riverside, IL. He attended college in California, later graduating from Northwestern. He had a successful advertising career, beginning as a copy writer for Montgomery Wards, and working at Encyclopedia Britannica and Rand-McNally. Moving to New York in 1979, he worked as the marketing manager for Holt Rinehart Winston, and then became marketing director for newly established CBS Cable.

Jack and Liz moved to Plainfield in 1990 with their daughter Charlie. Jack was by that time a full-time “Mr. Mom” and took an active and delighted part in his daughter’s life. He ran for and was elected to the village board. He raised money for the Copley Nature Park, and served on the library board as well. Jack wrote editorials for the weekly newspaper The Enterprise which sparked many village board meetings into lively debate.

In 2005, Jack created the Plainfield Television Group, an all-volunteer organization that provided programming for local public access cable television. The group operated from Jack’s family room, later moving to the attic at the First Midwest Bank Building in downtown Plainfield, which became known as the Bryant Broadcast Center, or, BBC. In addition to public affairs and election round tables, the group also covered the annual Homecoming parade, getting video of the crowds watching the event in a program called “Here’s Looking at You.” Jack initiated veteran’s history videotaping in cooperation with the Plainfield Public Library. Interviewers asked veterans of all ages about their military experiences. After the Group closed in 2010, Jack continued to edit a weekly program “Help Save Pets” featuring the local Humane Society’s efforts to find homes for dogs and cats. Jack’s web site, www.plainfieldtv.com, is extant and previous programs are available there for viewing online.

Jack loved to be with friends and family. He had a wide variety of experiences to draw upon from which he would relate compelling stories.  Sometimes they came out of his business experience and others would be of his enthusiastic embrace of new ideas and new technologies.  He related how his 5th birthday was interrupted by the attack at Pearl Harbor.  Or how he got his picture taken with the University of Nebraska mascot on game day.  Or the joy of wandering sans maps around Madrid for hours, getting completely lost while making new friends at a tapas bar.  Then hailing a taxi to get him back to wherever it was he started from.  He was a big picture person. Next to his birthday, which he celebrated for a full week, cooking for the family at Thanksgiving was a favorite activity.

A memorial gathering will be held for Jack on Sunday, March 24, 2013 at the Overman-Jones funeral home, 15219 S. Joliet Rd. The gathering will be from 1 to 4 p.m., with a service to begin at 1:30 p.m.