On July 22, 2015, Mike Heenan succumbed to complications of surgery. He was born in Longview, Washington in 1947, to Patrick James Jr. and Lavenia Heenan. He was a beloved husband, father, surrogate father, grandfather, great-grandfather and friend to many people that knew and loved him.
After graduating from Castle Rock High School in 1965, he joined the U.S. Navy and did three tours in Vietnam. He met his wife, Kay Sverdrup in 1968, while home on leave. They were married 16 days later and have been married for 47 years.
After his discharge from the Navy in 1968, he worked for the Port of Longview handling various import/export accounts. He took a job with the Washington State Patrol as radio dispatcher working graveyard shift so he could study in the slow hours to get his associate degree in business at Lower Columbia College.
In 1969, their daughter Kari was born. The family moved to Portland, Oregon in 1974, where he worked at Overhead Door Company, loading boxcars and eventually became wood products manager, attending Portland State University in the evenings. Their son John was born in 1975. When Overhead Door sold to Kinnear Door (a division of Harsco Corporation), he was sent to Kinnear Door in Centralia to help sales.
One year later,Harry H. Law Company in Seattle hired him to run the company as the owner had passed away. Kinnear hired him back to help sales when it sold to Wayne Dalton Corporation. Later, he left Wayne Dalton to work from his home.
His hobbies were hunting, fishing, carpentry, laughing with his good friends and relaxing with Sudoku in the evenings. In the mornings, he and Kay would watch the dogs romp in the yard with the birds feeding at the feeders. Being a homebody who was happy being close to his wife, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, his main enjoyment was being with his service dog, Maxine and new German Shepard puppy, Char. They were inseparable. They will greatly miss him..
Mike is survived by his wife, Kay; daughter, Kari; son, John (Jenny); three granddaughters, LeeAnna (Jake), Ashli (Paul) and Marissa (John); two grandsons, Matthew (Kari) and Cody (John and Jenny); two great-grandsons, Jakobi and Zedikiah (LeeAnna and Jake); one great-granddaughter, Riot (Ashli and Paul); sisters, Peg Kern of Florida (Charlie) and Teresa Sims; brothers, Patrick (Karen) of Winthrop, Tim (Nina) of Idaho and Dennis (Whitney) of Oregon; seven nieces and six nephews His two special survivors are his German Shepherds, Maxine and Char.
There will be a celebration of life informal gathering for Mike Heenan at O’Blarney’s in Centralia, from 6:00-8:00 p.m., July 31, 2015 upstairs. There will be appetizers and a no host bar. Bring your funny stories and join our family in loving memories. Laughter is the best medicine. The memorial service is being held Saturday Aug. 1, 2015 at 1:00 p.m. at the Steele Chapel at Longview Memorial Park, 5050 Mt. Solo Rd., Longview, WA 98632.
In lieu of flowers, please mail donations to Friends of VA Puget Sound Fisher House, PO Box 18253, Seattle, WA 98118.
