William "Bill" Alford Heink

Bill was born on November 30, 1941 in San Diego, California to Hans and Adele Heink and raised in southern California with brother Hansie and sister Adele. Bill was active in Boy Scouts, earning his Eagle Scout award. While not the most athletic person, he was one of the most lettered people in his high school as he served as manager and announcer to many sports teams. Bill was the great grandson of Madame Ernestine Schumann Heink, a famous opera singer and while he may not have inherited her singing gift, he was incredibly proud of that heritage and spent many summers at Grossmont, the home of “Oma.”

Following high school and a family move, Bill joined his family in southern Wyoming, choosing to attend the University of Wyoming pursuing his electrical engineering degree. It was here where he met the love of his life, Mary Lou Schott, thanks to his younger sister who was one of Mary Lou’s best friends. Three years younger, Mary Lou was still at UW once Bill graduated and began working in San Diego, but thanks to the ability to call long distance, they continued their love journey! As the story has been told, Bill finally realized it would be cheaper to get married rather than pay those expensive phone bills! Bill and Mary Lou were married August 25, 1963.

Mary Lou always had her heart set on having 12 children, and as she likes to say “he married me anyway!” Bill and Mary Lou had three children over a six-year period, Karl, Jobie and Aleta. While no other biological children were to be had, Bill and Mary Lou chose to host full year exchange students who immerse themselves into American life and more importantly, into the Heink life so they all became part of the family! Eight students in all from Sweden, Holland, Denmark and Spain brought the total to 11, just shy of Mary Lou’s dream.

Bill was Grandad to nine biological grandkids and another 15 who grew up “across the pond” as he liked to say. He was an incredible grandfather and started a fun tradition when each child turned five... the child was “thrown in the river”. However, they were taught from a very young age that if you fell into the river, just stand up! The kids loved it and often asked to be tossed more than once! He and Nana Mary Lou also took each grandchild (with their parents) to Disney when they turned five for a special day! Four great-grandchildren round out the family all living within 20 minutes of Bill. They brought him great joy, especially Avery, the oldest, who he proudly called his “Birthday Buddy” as they shared their special day!

Bill and Mary Lou have always loved dogs and raised several Shelties over the years, training them to compete in obedience competitions. In the later years, they raised a yellow lab, Ali, who they had lots of fun with, but learned quickly that labs stay puppies for a very long time. They decided the next dog would be a small dog and they ended up with the perfect dog for them, Abby, a Jack Russell mix. Abby and Bill had a very special relationship and she misses him greatly.

In 1962 Bill started his career with Convair Astronautics at Vandenberg AFB, moving to San Diego in 1963 and to the Cape in 1964 as a Flight Test Engineer at Launch Complex 36B. With the advent of the Apollo program, he moved to the Boeing Company in 1965 as an electrical systems test engineer for the liquid oxygen electrical control system at Launch Complex 39. In this capacity he participated in all Apollo launches, all Skylab launches and the Apollo-Soyuz launch, becoming lead engineer for liquid oxygen, RP 1 and liquid hydrogen systems at LC39.

At the completion of the Apollo program Bill moved with Boeing to become a senior electrical liaison engineer on the Minuteman program at Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota where, in 1977, he was selected as the Minuteman Professional Employee of the Year.

At the conclusion of the program at Grand Forks he returned to the Cape area to join Rockwell International on the shuttle program first as lead engineer and then as the supervisor of the orbiter main propulsion system (MPS). In this position Bill built up the group and initiated the test, checkout and systems procedures that were to govern the MPS pre-flight readiness and loading. In 1980, he was promoted to manager of the orbiter electrical and telecommunications group as it went through its growth and faced the challenges leading up to the first shuttle launch in 1981. Bill’s leadership during this phase created the right atmosphere and dedication that led to the recognized high performance of his people. He continued in this position until the advent of the Shuttle Processing Contract award in 1984 supporting and playing an instrumental part in the launch of the first ten shuttle flights. He received the Astronauts’ Personal Achievement Award (Silver Snoopy) for his shuttle work.

In 1984 Rockwell formed the Launch Support Services group to provide specialist design support to the SPC contractor and Bill was chosen to head up the Avionics team. He worked as a manager in this role through 1995, responsible for all engineering functions for the orbiter EPD & C, instrumentation, communications digital processing and navigational aids, supporting the launches of a further 56 shuttle flights and providing special support following the Challenger accident in 1986. Bill was promoted to director of orbiter engineering in 1995, responsible for all orbiter systems.

In 1998 he was named site director for Boeing Reusable Space Systems (RSS) Florida Operations overseeing the work of 300 personnel and was responsible for all RSS business and acquisition of future business at KSC and Cape Canaveral. He directed key activities involving space shuttle launch services as well as launch processing for the USAF Navstar Global Positioning System. He stayed in this position until his retirement in 2000.

Throughout his aerospace career Bill had pursued a long involvement with the National Management Association becoming President of his Florida Chapter twice, a National Director in 1985 and going on to hold all four national board positions finishing as the Chairman of the Board in 1995. His chairmanship enabled the association of some 60,000 members to remain a steward for management integrity and development. He was the recipient of the Gold Knight of Management Award in 1999

Once retired, Bill continued to be active in several things.

* Scouting continued to be important with Bill serving in several roles, but probably his favorite was serving on the Eagle Board of Review. He received the Silver Beaver Award, which is the highest award a volunteer Scouter can receive for significant service to youth within the council.

* University of Wyoming College of Engineering was a love of Bill’s and he enjoyed working with young college students. He served on the Board of Directors for several years. In 2000, the university awarded Bill with the Distinguished Alumni Award for his distinguished career in the space program

* Bill also volunteered with the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Foundation whose commitment to saving the lighthouse meant a lot to him.

* One of Bill’s pride and joys was the start of the annual Rocket Ranch Reunion. Started by a group of retired space workers who had a goal of getting together current and past employees in the space program to enjoy sharing stories and keeping memories alive of all they have accomplished.

Bill’s hobbies included working on his model railroad displays, building model rockets to display in his own personal Rocket Garden, doing yard work, spending time with family and friends, travelling, and communicating with people via email. We are sure our email boxes will be less full now! He loved telling stories, often more than once. Family and close friends started raising their hands to signify they had heard the story before, but it never stopped the story from being told again!

Bill was preceded in death by his parents, Hans and Adele Heink, his sister, Adele Roblee, and his brother Hansie Heink. He is survived by his wife of almost 62 years, Mary Lou, son Karl and Shannon Heink, daughter Jobie and Michael Woltman, daughter Aleta and Tim Mosebach; grandchildren Billy and Teresa Mosebach, Taylor Woltman, Ceili Heink, Lindsay and Harlee Stafford, Nic and Ashley Woltman, Erin Heink, Mikayla Woltman, Ashley Heink, Maegan Heink; great grandchildren, Avery Hill, Sam Stafford, Elaina Mosebach and Kamryn Woltman; cousin Jill and Bill Moran; Brother in law Ralph Roblee and nephews Michael Roblee and Mark Roblee (along with their families); and European family Niclas, Darcy, Bailey, and Beckham Ytterdahl; Lars, Annika, Carl-Magnus, Mikaela and Gustav Hygrell; Hans, Bea, Ludvig , Edvin and Sofia Hygrell; Neeltje, Fredrick, Viviën and Floris Visser; Karin, Wim, Julia, Sophie and Freddie Brevoord; Michael Haugsted; Thomas, Karina, Stella and Annabella Haugsted.

An Open House style Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, August 23, 2025 from 2 to 5pm at First United Methodist Church of Port St. John at 1165 Fay Blvd, Port St John. Come with stories to share and let’s celebrate Bill Heink who lived an amazing life! As Bill’s favorite color has always been yellow, please wear yellow in honor of him.