Joe F. Heiling, 78, of Beaumont died Monday November 29th at his residence. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Thursday December 2nd at 10:00 a.m at St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church with burial to follow at Claybar Haven of Rest Cemetery. Visitation will be Wednesday December 1st from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Claybar Kelley- Watkins Funeral Home. A Rosary will be recited at 6:00 pm.
Joe was born in Corpus Christi, Texas and grew up in Victoria. An avid sports fanatic, he attended Victoria Junior College where he played baseball and graduated with a degree in journalism. Following graduation, Joe married Dottie Troppy and entered the U.S. Air Force. It was at this time, Joe began his 45 year career in journalism as a sports writer, working for numerous newspapers. Joe worked for the Houston Post as a sports writer mainly covering the Astros for ten years. In 1975, Joe moved to Beaumont and became the Sports Editor for the Beaumont Enterprise.
Over the course of his career, he received over 30 regional, state and national awards for journalism excellence and is a past-president of the Baseball Writers of America. Joe and his wife, Dottie, are devout Catholics and longtime members of St. Jude Catholic Church where he served as a Eucharistic Minister.
He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Dottie; daughter, Allison Heiling of Beaumont; sons, Randall Heiling of California, Richard Heiling and his wife, Nita, of Houston; one grandson, Austin Heiling; and one brother, Walter Fuller and his wife, Molly of Houston.
The family wishes to sincerely thank the personnel from Hospice Of Texas who lovingly took care of Joe at home the last year of his life.