In Memoriam
In memoriam is a page to read featured obituaries of Northwestern alumni, faculty and staff. Visit Remembrances to read memorials of Northwestern community members submitted by their family or peers. Submit an obituary.
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Denise M. Stillman ’99 KSM, Nov. 7, 2018, at age 46. Mrs. Stillman enjoyed a two-decade career in marketing, during which she received the Public Relations Society of America’s MacEachern Award and numerous Silver and Gold Trumpets from the Publicity Club of Chicago. In 2012 she decided to leave that behind to start her own business, Go the Distance Baseball. With help from investors including Hall of Famer Wade Boggs and actor Matthew Perry, she purchased the 193-acre farm and baseball diamond used in Field of Dreams. Preserving the iconic field, surrounded by cornfields in Dyersville, Iowa, was just a small part of Mrs. Stillman’s dream to create a baseball mecca akin to Cooperstown in New York. Plans for All-Star Ballpark Heaven include team lodging and 24 baseball and softball diamonds. (See Denise Miarecki Stillman: Baseball Heaven.) Mrs. Stillman is survived by her husband, Tom Mietzel; a daughter, Claire; a son, John; and sisters Debra Vera and Abby Shelton. Photo by Dave Kettering/The Telegraph Herald in Dubuque, Iowa
Justin C. Heyman ’95 MBA, Chicago, Feb. 09, 2018, at age 50.
Born in South Africa, Mr. Heyman and his family moved to the East Coast. He earned his bachelor’s in economics from the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating he worked briefly for a large law firm in Israel and competed as a professional cyclist.
When he returned to the United States, he took a job at Ernst & Young, then earned an MBA at the Kellogg School of Management. When he was still in his 20s, Mr. Heyman orchestrated a series of buyouts that resulted in the creation of Morey’s Seafood International. Under Mr. Heyman’s leadership, Morey’s Seafood became one of the largest seafood companies in the country.
Mr. Heyman was a partner in the Chicago-based private equity firm Acuity Capital Partners as well as an active member of Chicago’s Young Presidents Organization. He died in a snowmobiling accident in Wyoming while on a trip with the organization. He was a cyclist and an avid outdoorsman and adventurer.
Mr. Heyman was also a philanthropist, following in the footsteps of his sister, Anne, a prominent New York philanthropist who died in a horseback riding accident in 2014. After her passing, Mr. Heyman devoted himself to fundraising for an orphanage she founded in a Rwandan village.
He is survived by his parents, Sydney and Hermia; his sons, Austin, Chase and Hunter; and siblings Dan and Lauren.