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John Louis Heinemeier (85) of Durham, North Carolina died peacefully in the presence of his wife, Sharon, on April 19 at the Duke Hospice Center.
John was born in 1936 in San Angelo, Texas to George and Etta Heinemeier. His early years were spent with his siblings (James (deceased), Kathleen, and Judy) in Malone and Winchester, Texas. At age 14, as a preparation for ministry, he was enrolled in boarding school and junior college at Concordia Lutheran School in Austin. Following junior college, John enrolled at Concordia Lutheran Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. His formal ministry training was completed while serving as a vicar at Trinity Lutheran Church in Peoria, Illinois. It was while serving at Trinity that John met Sharon Kay Weber. John and Sharon were married on December 28, 1962.
John received his first parish call to St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church in the Canarsie neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. He was ordained as the Reverend John Heinemeier on July 14, 1963. Over the next 55 years of ministry, John and Sharon would serve churches and communities in urban New York City, Boston, and Baltimore, as well as urban and rural North Carolina.
His formal ministry training was supplemented by lessons in the “art” of ministry on the streets of Williamsburg and Brownsville Brooklyn, and The South Bronx. These opportunities defined his ministry focus and style. It was during these years that John became an ardent social justice warrior, a relentless advocate for the less fortunate and under-represented, and a talented community organizer.
Though he lived the balance of his life in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic, John never lost his affection for Texas and all that it embodies … he was truly a Texan at heart. Some of his greatest joys were reading, sports…particularly tennis, art of all varieties, painting, travel, and food. He would rarely pass up an opportunity to test local brisket barbecue (the bar was set very high) and was on a seemingly endless quest to find that “better” pan of paella. Though his heart longed for Texas, John also held a deep affection for the ocean. Some of his family’s fondest memories will be of time spent with him on the Carolina coast near Wilmington.
Those who knew John will remember him as compassionate, wise, well-learned…but not boastful, humble, stoic…but never afraid of a good joke, insightful, and caring. People knew that they were truly accepted unconditionally when they were with or around John.
John went to be with his savior Jesus, after a prolonged battle with cancer. Gratefully, it was not until the later stages that complications related to cancer treatments and an aging body became unmanageable. He is survived by his wife of 59 years (Sharon), his three children (Rachel, Sarah, Benjamin), seven grandchildren (Emmanuel, Jonathan, Christopher, Sydney, Brady, Shelby, Blake), five sons- and daughters-in-law/partners (Antonio, Jennifer, Jamara, Alley, Lori), and two siblings (Kathleen and Judy).
The funeral service will be on Saturday, May 21, at 1:00 p.m. at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, Durham. Livestream link can be found on the Christus Victor, Durham, website, or on the St. Philip's, Durham, website.
Donations may be made in Pastor Heinemeier's memory to World Central Kitchen (Chef Jose Andres).
Watch "Sie, Se Puede: Reflections on 50 years of ministry" on YouTube to learn more about Pastor Heinemeier's ministry.
Read Pastor Heinemeier's memoir.
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