GREENSBORO - Mr. John Palmer Heath died on Monday, July 2, 2007, at Beacon Place after a courageous battle with ALS-Lou Gehrig's disease.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro.

John was born on March 12, 1946, in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Mr. Brooks N. Heath and the late Muriel P. Heath. The family, which included his younger sister, Laurie, moved around the country, living in Scarsdale, New York, Jacksonville, Florida, Palo Alto, California, Seattle, Washington, Chatham, New Jersey and Westport, Connecticut.

John came to Greensboro in 1975, where he met and married Lyn Stewart. They have a daughter, Jennifer Heath Edmondson.
While living in Connecticut, John worked with his sister at The Noroton School in Darien, Connecticut. It was a special school for autistic, mentally and physically challenged children. The children loved him and he made a real difference in their lives. John worked briefly for the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce before beginning a 30 year career in real estate. He was a Broker and Appraiser and finally, happiest as a Developer and Consultant with his friend, Herb Parks at Eagle Properties. Along the way, John was blessed with many fine mentors and dear friends.
Community service was important to John. He was Chairman of the Governmental Liaison Council of The Greensboro Chamber of Commerce and played a key role in organizing and leading the coalition that merged the three Guilford County School Systems in the early 1990's. John volunteered for the Special Olympics, served on the Board of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of The Piedmont and served as Chairman of the Board for The National Alliance for The Mentally Ill chapter in Greensboro.

John appreciated the beauty of nature and the pleasures of the outdoors. He loved canoe trips on the New River, cooking a gourmet meal, listening to Mozart, reading history, talking politics, playing with his cats, following ACC basketball and rooting for his favorite team, The New York Yankees.

John was a longtime member of First Presbyterian Church in Greensboro, where he was actively involved as a Sunday School Teacher, an Usher and Chairman of the Mental Health Ministry Team and a member of the Young Men's Bible Class. John had a deep faith in God and looked to Jesus as his guide in life.

John will be greatly missed by those who knew and loved him. He leaves behind to cherish memories of him his wife of 28 years, Lyn Stewart Heath; his daughter, Jennifer Heath Edmondson and her husband, Nathan; grandson, Cole Palmer Edmondson; his father, Brooks N. Heath; his sister, Laurie Heath Southworth and her husband, David; and his niece and nephew, Kristen Leigh and John Brooks Southworth.

Greensboro News & Record (NC) - Wednesday, July 4, 2007