Phyllis Heck

Phyllis Ann Heck, 70, walked to heaven on November 30, 2013. Anyone who ever met Phyllis, never forgot her. She was a person who drew others out and made them laugh. To her friends and loved ones she gave of herself without limit.

Born in Far Rockaway in Queens on January 4, 1943, Phyllis spent the first 46 years of her life in New York City. Phyllis graduated from Walton High School in the Bronx in 1960, and four years later graduated from Hunter College, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in English. She worked briefly as a high school English teacher, and then went on to a more than 20 year career as a health care administrator with New York State Employment Service.

When Phyllis’s younger sister moved to Seattle, Washington in 1989 following a divorce, she asked Phyllis if she mightbe willing to come with her to help look after Phyllis’s young niece and nephew for a few weeks. Phyllis said “yes” without hesitation. Phyllis took a leave of absence from her job, sublet her Manhattan apartment, and flew to Seattle with her sister, niece, and nephew. Within just three weeks of living in the Pacific Northwest, Phyllis decided to say good-bye to New York for good and started her new life in Seattle.

Barely three months after moving to Seattle, Phyllis met the love of her life, Larry Heck. At a dance in Bellevue, WA, Larry spotted Phyllis across a crowded room and asked her to dance. Eight days later, he proposed, and exactly four weeks later – February 10, 1990 – they were married.

For the next 12 years, Phyllis and Larry lived in the Greater Seattle Area.During that time, Phyllis thrived in her job at the Saint Michelle Winery in Woodinville, WA. In marrying Larry, Phyllisgained two wonderful stepchildren, EricHeck and Kim Stock, later their spouses, AmyHeck and Ray Stock, and eventually six precious grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

In 2002, Phyllis and Larry moved from Washington State to Ankeny, Iowa to be closer to Larry’s family. For many years, Phyllis worked as a cashier at the Target Store in Ankeny, where once again she was in her element – meeting and greeting customers and drawing people out. Now in heaven, she is no doubt still doing the exact same thing – meeting souls and making them feel welcome.

Phyllis is survived by: her husband, Larry Heck; her sister, Sara (Lazaroff) Geballe; stepchildren Eric Heck and Kim (Heck) Stock and their spouses, Amy Heck and Ray Stock; six grandchildren Paige Grochala (Ryan), Maddie Panek (Jake) , Morgan Ferris, Jake Heck, Max Heck, andJaciStock; two great-grandchildren, Brilee and Brayden Grochala; and her nephew and niece, Zachary and Ruby Geballe.

A celebration of Phyllis’s life will be held on Sunday, December 15th from 3:00 – 6:00 pm at Phyllis and Larry’s home in Ankeny. In lieu of flowers, memorials in Phyllis’s honor may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at www.stjude.org.

Condolences may be expressed at:
www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com

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