At 8:10 Sunday morning, July 29th, 2012, the Lord received Jim Heiniger into His eternal reward. Jim had run his race well and finished his course. He was faithful unto death and now he has been given a crown of life!

I recall the first time I met Jim. It was at the Gull Lake Bible and Missionary Conference Grounds in Michigan. Each summer our family would go there for Bible training. When Jim met our family, he was immediately attracted to my sister Laura and Laura was impressed by his kind eyes and spiritual focus. When he was in Okinawa during the Korean War, he wrote a letter to her every day that was filled with Scripture.

Jim was a college football player. He was Team Captain at Bradley University and was voted into the university's Hall of Fame. He then received an invitation to play for the Chicago Bears. However, he told them he could not play on Sundays and declined this opportunity. Instead, he worked as the Athletic Director at three North Shore high schools. He was the youngest Athletic Director in the entire state of Illinois.

In 1975 Jim and his family came to the Oak Brook Headquarters and in 1980 Laura became my Secretary; a ministry she continues to have today. Jim became the Director of our Construction Department. Their faithfulness over these past 37 years is a marvelous tribute to their love for the Lord and for each other.

In over 57 years of marriage, Laura does not remember a single time that Jim became angry. He not only had kind eyes but also a gentle heart. He would often be brought to tears as he prayed for a crisis that another person was experiencing.

Jim was a role model in so many ways and he leaves behind him a great spiritual heritage to his wife, his 5 children, his 20 grandchildren, and his 5 great-grandchildren. We will miss him dearly! However, his home going is a reminder of how brief life is and how each one of us must make the best use of every minute.