James Douglas Heinz, 76, entered the presence of the Lord on January 2, 2020. A native of Memphis, Coach Heinz had a career that spanned 54 years as a football coach, baseball coach, athletic director, and teacher at Colonial Junior High, Briarcrest Christian School, and Evangelical Christian School. While at ECS, he led his teams to seven TSSAA state championships, four as head football coach and three as head baseball coach. In 2018 he was inducted into the Tennessee Football Coaches Hall of Fame. Despite these achievements, wins were secondary to him; he was more concerned that his players grew into men of character, worthy husbands and fathers, and most importantly, followers of Christ.
Coach Heinz was preceded in death by his parents, Rev. W.F. Heinz, Sr. and Gladys Heinz; siblings Gladys Mae Heinz, Mildred Fingar, and Charles Heinz; and a granddaughter, Emerson Grace Grant. Survivors include his beloved wife of nearly 54 years, Jane Heinz; four children, Steve (Alexis) Heinz of Collierville, Stephanie (Mark) Pugh of Collierville, Stacy (Tom) Grant of Newport, NC, and Shannon (A.J.) Vollmer of Collierville; five siblings, Fred (Frances) Heinz, Jr. of Memphis, Jean (Mike) Smith of Chesterfield, MO, Ray (Sarah) Heinz of Collierville, David (Carolyn) Heinz of Memphis, and Mary (Randy) Lockley of Arlington; brother-in-law Walter Fingar of Charleston, SC, sisters-in-law Freda Heinz and Elane Rogers of Memphis; and eleven grandchildren: Hailey, Holland, Hannah, Heath, and Ruby Heinz; Peyton, Ashton, and Parker Pugh; and Heinz, Bennett, and Tyler Grant.
A visitation will be held at Memphis Funeral Home (5599 Poplar Ave.) on Wednesday, January 8th from 5:00pm to 9:00pm with a funeral service to be held on Thursday, January 9th at Harvest Church (3645 Forest Hill Irene) at 11:00am with a committal service to follow at Memphis Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens (3700 N. Germantown Rd.)
Memorials may be given in honor of Coach's legacy to Evangelical Christian School football and baseball programs at ecseagles.com
