Richie Lee Allen Heitz

Rich and I are from the same home town, Freeport, IL. In high school Rich and I were Thespians. Rich was a talented actor who would embrace theater and music. In a small town, it was also something fun to do and mostly kept us out of trouble. We built so many wonderful memories putting on these shows. For every show he was in, a dozen or more people could tell you a funny story about something Rich did or said. He was at the center of many antics and was always making people laugh. I always wanted to spend time with him because he was a nice person, easy to be around, with a warm, welcoming personality. He was a constant source of entertainment and always made me laugh. He could do voices, accents, and impressions. He could make jokes and improvise. A natural actor doing improv before improv was a mainstream thing. By our senior year Rich was driving an old Chevy Camaro, a beater, unpainted in grey primer, a car Rich could afford which today would be a classic. Rich and his friends spent hours driving around in that car; driving to work, driving home from rehearsals, driving around toilet-papering houses when we were jacked up and had nothing better to do. While Rich was in college he finally painted the car Jackson Pollock-style by splattering it with paint. I’m pretty sure it was house paint, too and not car paint. The car was unique and a classic, as Rich was. Rich was smart, got good grades and was good with computers. He had great taste in music and had an encyclopedic knowledge of songs and bands, especially 80’s music. He could sing along to songs on the radio and always knew the words. Rich was a hard worker with arms like Popeye. He worked hard physically as an actor and a “techie”. He was able to make a living working in theater for a few years until he had to give it up due to health problems. He would later hold jobs waiting tables in restaurants, as a handyman, a sales rep and an Uber driver. In high school he had a summer job at the Kelly Springfield tire factory. Rich was a talented artist. He designed the logo for one of our student musicals. It was a great design, but his caricature of the female lead had enormous breasts. Years later we laughed at this and we wondered how he got away with creating a racy drawing for a wholesome high school musical. I teased him and told him that he must have been a boob-man before he was living his best gay life. He agreed. Rich would major in theater at HCC and EIU. I was able to stay in touch with him through college and we visited each other frequently and had more great times. I saw Rich a few years after college at his mom’s funeral wake. His mom had been ill for much of his life and after losing her, there would be some further rifts with his family. I would like to think his close relationships with friends and his sense of humor helped him cope with this loss. Rich and I would lose touch after that and I wouldn’t see him for about 15 years. We both moved around and it was the days before cell phones and email. In roughly 2007 many of us got back in touch with Rich via Facebook. Rich and I were both in CA and I was able to make a few trips to San Diego to see him. We picked up where we left off and he had me laughing again like we were still 17 years old. I met his dogs and saw what a devoted dog-dad he was. There were daily dog park visits and his life was focused around them. They meant the world to him and he gave his dogs an amazing life. Rich was generous. The times I visited him with my kids, he spent time talking to them, playing with them, drawing with them and including them in plans. Because of his health problems he wasn’t working much. Despite this, he took my family out to dinner when we came to San Diego. He refused to let me pay and said he wanted to pay in order to let us know he was glad we had come to see him. He was such a lovely human being. We both moved back to the midwest later and attended our 30th hs reunion together. I picked him up at his house in WI and as we were leaving to head to our home town, I commented on a parked truck. He then told me a story about this truck, which belonged to his neighbor. I’m not sure the story was even that funny, but Rich’s way of imitating his neighbor’s voice, his delivery, and his comic timing had me nearly peeing my pants five minutes into the road trip. It was a sign that it was going to be a fantastic weekend. We had great fun, enjoyed seeing so many of our classmates and dear friends and had many more laughs. I’ll cherish that time with him. I had some conversations with Rich over the years about relationships and dating and after some lonely years, he met Bob. They were very quickly inseparable. Rich found a way to move to Chicago so they could be together and Bob embraced living with both Rich and his two dogs. Rich talked about Bob being his soul mate. As I look now at a holiday photo of Rich and Bob from 2018 I’m struck by how they look like a couple of old souls who have been together forever and at the same time, look like they are newly in love. I think both are true. I was grateful I got to meet Bob and see what all the fuss was about. I loved meeting this person who could compliment Rich and bring out the best in him. I’m grateful Rich got to experience that kind of love and companionship. It helps ease the pain of losing Rich to know that Bob gave him such happiness. Rich didn’t have a brother, but many of our friends told me “Rich was like a brother to me.” He loved his friends deeply and brought much joy and laughter to the people around him. I’m grateful he gave me so many wonderful memories that will live with me forever and put a smile on my face every time I think of them. Rich, I hope you are enjoying a happy reunion with your sweet dog Milo and with other loved ones who left this earth before you. The light you put out in the world is still shining. Rest in peace my dear friend.