Ronald Heiks

Ronald Lamar Heiks, 79, of Oak Harbor, Ohio passed away Tuesday, October 8, 2019 at Hospice of Northwest Ohio, Perrysburg, Ohio. He was born in Wooster, Ohio on January 15, 1940 to Ivan and Dorothy (Horst) Heiks. He was a 1958 graduate of Oak Harbor High School and graduated in 1963 from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering with a Nuclear Option. Ron attended college with his high school sweetheart, Judith Ann (Vogt). They were later married on September 12, 1959. They recently had their 60th wedding anniversary. Ron fondly talked about the first time he saw Judy and how she wore a red sweater. Ron and Judy, along with their three sons (Tim, Ted and Todd), lived in many places. They first moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee where Ron worked for the Atomic Energy Commission in the Oak Ridge Nation Laboratory. While working there, he attended a post graduate program at the Oak Ridge School of Reactor Technology (ORSORT) where he graduated a year later with the degree of Doctor of Pile Engineering. He was one out of only 976 to ever graduate from this school. A short time was spent in Connecticut where the family enjoyed many lobster dinners. This was right before they moved to Brooklyn, Michigan (Lake Columbia) where Ron worked at Consumers Power in the Nuclear Power program. In 1974, while working there, he was a founder and then elected as the first Chairman for the World Nuclear Fuel Market (WNFM). This was a nonprofit association which served as a coordinating organization for buyers and sellers of nuclear fuel material. Then, the family moved to Grand Junction, Colorado where Ron started working in uranium production. This is where the original uranium for the Manhattan Project came from. While they were in Colorado, Ron and his family lived on a ranch where they had Arabian horses. They also had a national monument in their backyard. Ron got to do something very few people ever get the chance to do; he built his own town in Utah. When he was President of company called Plateau Resources, he started a uranium production facility and an entire infrastructure that eventually became populated with about 800 people. The closest town was about 100 miles away and only had about 100 people living there. Since there was not really anyone or anything around for hundreds of miles, Ron needed to have an entire town built. He named the town "Ticaboo" which is a Native American word that means "friendly place". He built a school, fire department, post office, cable company, bar, laundry facility, stores and restaurants. The town is still in existence today. Next, Ron and Judy were off to Bellevue, Washington. Ron worked in Seattle for Siemens, a company that produces nuclear power plants. While there, he was near the site of a reactor productions facility that was the second site of the Manhattan Project. After retiring in 2002, Ron and Judy moved back to Oak Harbor. He was once asked, "Why did you want to move back to Oak Harbor?" He replied without hesitation, "To be near my grandkids!" Since returning to Oak Harbor, Ron had been involved with the community in many ways. He belonged to the Oak Harbor Rotary Club and was recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow, Mens Prayer Breakfast at the Port Clinton Methodist Church, the OSU Alumni Association, and the Oak Harbor Alliance Chapel where he served as a Deacon; he also attended Shoreline Church. Along with other Rotarians, he worked on many projects such as getting new play equipment for Veterans Park, raising money for the Oak Harbor Library and even found an ambulance to donate to a group in need in Central America. Ron loved living in Oak Harbor and many people in the downtown area knew him. He loved to stop at many of the businesses as he believed in supporting local establishments. In 2007, he displayed his "Spam Can Art" at the Oak Harbor Library. He made replicas of cars, golf carts, trucks and other items. They became quite popular and he even donated some items for charity auctions. Because of his dedication to the community and to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Oak Harbor Apple Festival, which his mother Dorothy Heiks started, Ron was chosen as the Apple Festival Grand Marshall in 2008. The Exponent newspaper once asked him, "You have lived in so many beautiful places and you could have lived anywhere, what besides your grandkids made you come to Oak Harbor?" He said, "Ive traveled to 49 states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. Ive lived less time in Oak Harbor than other places, but Oak Harbor is the only place Ive ever considered home." Ron was intelligent, accomplished, funny, caring, creative, a philanthropist, and a HUGE Ohio State fan (he loved watching the Ohio State vs. Michigan game every year), but the quality that will be remembered most was that he was a great man who showed so much love to his wife, kids, grandkids, family and friends. Survivors include his wife, Judith Ann (Vogt) Heiks of Oak Harbor, sons: Timothy (Natalie Green) Heiks of Arnold, MD, Theodore Heiks of Oak Harbor, Todd (Deborah) Heiks of Graytown, granddaughter Deminique (David Steinkirchner) Heiks of Toledo, grandson Tyler (Runyu) Heiks of Graytown, and brother Thomas (Jimi) Heiks of Charlotte, NC. He was preceded in death by his parents Ivan and Dorothy Heiks. Visitation will be Tuesday from 2-8pm at the Crosser Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Oak Harbor Chapel. Funeral Services will begin at 11am Wednesday, October 16, 2019 at Shoreline Church, Oak Harbor. Burial will be in Salem Township Union Cemetery, Oak Harbor. Memorial Contributions may be given to the Oak Harbor Rotary Club, Hospice of Northwest Ohio, or Shoreline Church. Funeral Home: Crosser Funeral Home & Cremation Service - Oak Harbor Chapel 301 N. Locust Street Oak Harbor, OH US 43449