Howard Theodore Heintz Jr.

Ted Heintz, a sailor, senior policy analyst, and adventuresome father of four, pushed the federal government to use its vast troves of environmental data to make wiser development and energy decisions for a sustainable future for the nation and planet. He died August 1, 2026, at age 83.

The eldest of five brothers, Howard Theodore Heintz, Jr., was born on September 5, 1942 , in St Louis, MO, and spent his first years in the care of his mother, Ruth Brodhead Heintz, while his father, Howard T. Heintz, served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during World War II. Later, on vacations in Crystal Lake, Michigan, Ted and his brothers developed a lifelong love for sailing after Howard bought them their first sailboat. Ted attended public schools in suburban St. Louis before entering Cornell University, where he completed what was then a five-year engineering program, graduating in 1965 with a degree in electrical engineering. He earned his Master’s in Public Administration at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School, now the School of Public and International Affairs. He started his career in the Bureau of the Budget, now the Office of Management and Budget, left for a position with a private company, Earth Satellite Corp., and later rejoined the government.

His career at the U.S. Department of the Interior stretched over more than 30 years, culminating in an eight-year special assignment to the White House Council on Environmental Quality during the Clinton and then George W. Bush administrations. At the Interior Department, he worked primarily in the Office of Policy Analysis, specializing in the economics and management of natural and environmental resources. In 1980, he won the department’s Distinguished Service Award and rose to the position of assistant director of the office. In the early 1990s, he began to focus on sustainable development and connected with other federal agencies to assemble various government data sets to support decision-making. He wrote a paper in 2002 arguing that policy experts should provide feedback based on broad, inclusive data to show which laws and government programs move the country closer to, or further from, a sustainable future. He was an avid member of the global Balaton Group, an international network of researchers and practitioners in fields related to systems and sustainability.

In 1968, he married Judy Nusbaum, a civil rights organizer, whom he met while teaching a sailing course. They started a family of four children, two of them adopted and biracial, in an act of love, his children say, that reflected Ted’s willingness to look beyond biology and to recognize the value of people simply as people. Theirs was a busy multiracial household that only grew when Judy began a childcare business in their home. Ted supported her work every step of the way; building cribs, securing loans, and believing in her vision. Her company, The Children in the Shoe, has since expanded to multiple locations across Montgomery County, MD. Today, the business is managed by their children and supports the entire family. In a sailboat co-owned with his brother John, Ted and his family regularly cruised the Atlantic Coast, including Maine, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland, and once to Bermuda. His children recall his bravery, empathy, and the patience he displayed as a parent.

After Judy died in 2005 from sepsis after a dog bite, Ted married his high school girlfriend, Pamela Tremayne, a lawyer, and moved to Atlanta. They bought a second home on Hilton Head Island, and he continued to write about sustainability and served as a trustee of Oglethorpe University. Pamela died in 2011, soon after undergoing surgery for pancreatic cancer. He found love again with South African-born Gillian Theunissen Horsley, and they were married in 2013, the same year he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. He underwent a stem cell transplant that, though successful, led to years of pain and continuous treatment. Ted met with his transplant team almost every two weeks for 14 years and was enrolled in several trial treatments. Gillian, a painter and educator, traveled and sailed and attended concerts with Ted and was his devoted caregiver, tending his wounds and seeing him gently through infections, skin cancers, and other illnesses while always making sure he lived a full and rewarding life. In addition to Gillian, he leaves his children, Jon Heintz, Geoffrey “Jib” Heintz, Nina Heintz McKim, Linda Heintz, and stepchildren Bronwen Maskell, Steven Maskell, Anita Horsley, and Natasha Horsley Weston, and twelve grandchildren. He is also survived by brothers Jeff, John, Stephen, and Chris.

Ted’s cerebral nature belied a sentimental and poetic one. He loved puns and could joke about his post-retirement life, as he did in a 2022 note to college classmates: “My job has been to help maintain the cash flow between the insurance sector and the healthcare sector. I’ve done a good job, starting with a stem cell transplant … I’ve spent too much time in hospitals and clinics, but I’m still here to tell the stories.”

A celebration of Ted’s life will be held Friday, September 4, from 5 to 9 p.m. at The Woman’s Club of Chevy Chase, 7931 Connecticut Ave., Chevy Chase, MD 20815.

Anyone wanting to make a gift in Ted’s memory is invited to contribute to the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at Northside Hospital, Johnson Ferry Road, Atlanta, GA.