Harvey Arthur Heys

On the morning of November 28^th, 2021, Harvey Arthur Heys of Sandusky, Ohio said his final goodbye to family and friends. Preceded in death by his parents, Floyd and Dorothea Heys, he is now remembered by immediate family: his brother, Mike Heys, his two daughters, Colonel Jennifer Smith-Heys and Randi Ketchum, his grandchildren, Beatrice, Christopher, Heydn, and Heyley, and many other, “children,” which he, “adopted,” along the way.

A sprightly 83-years of age, his life was the magical part of the music you can feel but cannot read in harmonies or melodies. Music was an underlying driver in the beginning of his life, credited to his father’s influence. Harvey was modest about his musical prowess, saying that the 18 musical instruments for which he had fluency came nowhere near his father’s 21.

After growing up farming and working in his parents’ music store, he attended Ohio State University and was drafted in the U.S. Army in 1960, receiving a field promotion to Captain in Germany. During this assignment, Captain Heys met President Kennedy who asked Harvey whether he was going to vote for him. Harvey quickly retorted he was a lifelong Republican—an affiliation that never changed.

Harvey went on to do many things after the Army, leading Ely Masonic Lodge, marrying the now departed Sue Heys (nee’ Smith) and having a family—driving school bus and cab, serving as a paramedic and as a pillar in the church, owning, and running a music store, restaurants, and nightclub. Notably, his club served as a refuge for the LGBTQ community in Sandusky, for which the city recognized him in 2018 with the first Sandusky Pride Honors Award.

Harvey’s repartee, sense of humor, and joie de vivre are what people will recall and miss most. Always ready with the quintessential punchline or story, he is most often seen in pictures with his mouth open mid-thought. He leaves behind a legacy entirely unique to his way of life and so many families and friends who will miss him forever.

In his lifelong pursuit of education, service to others, and passion for medicine, Harvey has donated his body to Ohio State University. Memorial contributions can be made to Edison High School Music Department or the charity of your choice that reflects his life.  Please join his family in a celebration of life, Sunday, December 12, 2021, at the Lost Sailor's Inn (formerly 1st CUCC), 431 Columbus Avenue, Sandusky, Ohio. Doors open at 3:00 pm, service will begin at 4:00 pm.

Arrangements entrusted to the David F Koch Funeral & Cremation Services, 520 Columbus Ave, Sandusky.  Your memories and words of comfort can be shared with Harvey's family at davidfkoch.com.

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