William "Bill" Heffernan,, Jr.'s Obituary
William Henry Heffernan, Jr. (67) beloved father, grandfather and brother died Saturday, February 27, 2016, with his family by his side. He was an amazing man and his two greatest passions – as his many friends will attest – were his son and his family and the second was his career enabling programs that dealt with mental health and the limitations imposed on families by poverty. He was especially committed to furthering early childhood education in Tulsa and, in his consulting work, to similar programs throughout the country. He was born December 14, 1948 in Bayonne, New Jersey to William and Mary Heffernan who preceded him in death. He retained a lifelong affection for Bayonne and the friendships formed there in his early years and summers spent at Lake Tamarack, NJ and the Jersey shore. He is survived by his son, William H. Heffernan,III; his daughter-in-law, Chrisan; his grandchildren, Morgan and Henry of Tulsa; his sister, Robin Beck and her husband, William of Ardmore, PA and his sister, Karen Heffernan of Pacific Grove, CA; his aunt, Josephine Richardson of Bayonne, NJ; many dear cousins and numerous friends. He was a graduate of the College of Emporia, Emporia, Kansas and furthered his education at Oklahoma City University. After working for a large retail store chain in various locations, he found his lifelong work in using his knowledge and skills to further the institutions that helped those with mental health problems, poverty and ultimately, in support of early childhood education. He was a Business Services Manager for Parkside, Inc. in Tulsa for over 15 years. He continued his commitment to community as Director of Operations for Community Action Project of Tulsa where he provided strategic and operational management to a wide variety of programs to reduce poverty from housing to education and to ensure opportunity for success for children and their families. While working with Tulsa Educare, Inc. he was instrumental in the development, planning, project management and construction of three state-of-the-arts nationally recognized Early Childhood schools. He continued his career as a consultant of the national Office of Head Start furthering the Zero to Three programs in new and expanding programs geographically from Washington State to Texas to Harrisburg, PA. In recognition of his accomplishment’s the Board Room at Tulsa Educare, Inc. will be dedicated to Bill. One of his greatest pleasures was taking his grandchildren and family to the New Jersey shore where he delighted in introducing them to the Atlantic Ocean, his New Jersey family and friends and of course Bayonne pizza. One of his most admirable traits was his sense of humor that underlay the many friendships he made and retained throughout his lifetime. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends. His funeral service will be private but per his very explicit wishes, there will be in the near future a joyous celebration of his life. He asked that any memorial contributions be directed to Tulsa Educare, Inc. c/o Bill Heffernan 2190 S 67th E. Avenue Tulsa OK 74129.
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