Joel Heck

JoeL Heck, 95, loving friend, husband, brother, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, died peacefully the morning of October 28, 2024 in Wood Village, Oregon. JoeL was born February 3, 1929 in Harmon, ND to Florentina (Berger) and Phillip Heck. 

He moved with his family to Tacoma, WA when he was 10. He joined the Army in 1946 and served in the U.S. and in Okinawa. In 1953 at the University of Washington he met Ann Jeanette Hughes, who became his wife. Together they moved to Thornton, WA where he attended Washington State University and earned his teaching degree. 

He taught in Washington, California, and Alaska. In addition to being a teacher, JoeL was a homesteader, a home builder, a community leader; a man of many talents who would try his hand at doing anything.

He helped build and was a founding member of the Sunshine Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Talkeetna, Alaska, and he was active in the SDA Church wherever he lived since 1980.

After retirement, JoeL, along with Ann, taught English in China and Turkey. In 2010, after calling Alaska home for over 49 years, they returned to Thornton where they reconstructed the original Hughes homestead farmhouse that Ann had grown up in. JoeL lived his final years near Gresham, Oregon.

JoeL is survived by his sister Maria Simmons, his four children Wendy (Jeff) Coffin, Kim (Jennifer) Heck, Melani (Bobby) Ament, and Timothy Heck, 12 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews. He was predeceased by his wife, his parents, and five siblings.

JoeL’s family extends gracious thanks to everyone at Cherrywood Village in Portland, OR for the community they provided to him, and at Serenity Care Home in Wood Village, OR for their loving care at the end of his life.

His motto was “Do something, even if it’s wrong – unless you know it’s wrong.” JoeL was a gentle person who loved and was loved in return.

A celebration of JoeL’s life will be planned for early 2025.