Joseph William Heilner III

Joseph William Heilner, III passed away at Holmes Regional Hospital May 26, 2024 after a brief but courageous battle with cancer. He was surrounded by family and his partner, Georgia. Joseph (Bill) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania August 16, 1947 to Ruth Greg (Harper) and Joseph William Heilner. He graduated from Neshaminy High School, Langhorn, and from Trenton Technical Institute and attended New York University. He served 10 years in the Air National Guard as a staff sergeant and worked as a branch manager for Optical Scanning in New York and Pennsylvania.

He married Deborah Wilkins in 1974 and they had two children, Joseph and Judi. In 1980 Bill and his family moved to Palm Bay for a job change and eventually accepted a position as Regional Sales Manager for Compsee in the optical scanning division and retired from the company in 2006. His years in Palm Bay were filled with raising his children with his wife, mowing lots of grass, and trips to Las Vegas with his family. Bill loved to play poker, Texas Hold Em and Club 52 was a weekly date. He enjoyed ballroom dancing, met his partner, Georgia, there. He was a skilled carpenter and electrician which he learned from his father. He could repair almost anything and loved being asked to help by friends, neighbors, strangers - that was his language of love, helping others. He enjoyed going to estate sales - there were always more tools to buy. His other passion was the stock market and his West Melbourne Investment Group - his friends and coworkers of many years meeting every morning at 7am at McDonald’s and Monday evenings at the library. There was always a new stock to chart and a possible swing trade to make. He kept in touch with his former co-workers of many years and they joined in on the internet. He was a man of many talents, many friends who loved him and lived life well.

Bill met his partner, Georgia Metcalf, in the ballroom dance community and they built a life together for the last 10 years, dancing, traveling, gardening, remodeling, mornings with coffee and stock market analysis, taking care of each other and enjoying life every day. He had a quiet, kind, gentle personality with a dry, witty sense of humor, and was quite often (his words) the smartest person in the room. His gift was listening to people, talking when he had something significant to say, or to tell a joke. He was a man of integrity, honor and a moral compass that never wavered.

Bill is survived by his partner, Georgia Metcalf, former wife, Deborah Maliska (Michael), son Joseph Heilner (Nancy), daughter Judi Thomas (Mark), brother Clifford Brooks Heilner (Mary Ellen) in Pennsylvania, grandchildren Eleanora Heilner, Jacob and Blake Thomas, and nieces Tiffany Megan and Amanda Nicole. He is predeceased by his mother, Ruth, father Joseph, sisters Mimi and Bette Jo.

A Celebration of Life will be held Sunday, June 23, 2pm at The Banyon Estate, 1490 Marie Street, Malabar, FL 32950. Memorial donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the charity of your choice.