Loretta Heil, 78, of Burien, WA, died August 19, 2014 at Virginia Mason Hospital due to complications from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. She was born January 5, 1936 to Joe and Loretta Kasper. She grew up as the youngest of seven children in Butte, ND, a small town near Minot. At the age of four she lost her father due to an automobile accident and was raised by her mother, who supported the family by owning and operating a general/grocery store in Butte. She graduated magna cum laude from Minot State Teacher’s College (now Minot State) in 1957, then taught bookkeeping, typing, and shorthand in Beulah, North Dakota for two years. At the end of her second year of teaching her students dedicated their yearbook to her.

Loretta then married Terry Heil, a mechanical engineer. She and Terry raised four children while living in Johnson City, NY, Ann Arbor, MI and Minneapolis, MN before moving to Seattle, WA in the early 1980s. In addition to running a busy household, Loretta worked at McDonald’s where she was one of the first female management trainees. She eventually left that job due to a hip injury, but stayed busy traveling extensively with her husband, who was actively engaged in a number of professional societies. She also kept occupied as an active volunteer at St. Bernadette Parish and the Burien Elks.

Loretta is survived by her husband of 55 years, Terry; their four children, Dr. Steven Heil, Joan Heil, Ann Heil and Mary Heil – who all hold engineering degrees; daughter-in-law, Robin Heil; brother, Don Kasper; and five grandchildren, Janie Heil, John Heil, Katie Heil, Peter Krogen and Erik Krogen – who all have or are about to complete engineering or science degrees.

Published in The West Seattle Herald Section of The Westside Weekly August 29, 2014