Remarks by Beverly Holmes

If you can hear me and understand what I am saying, then you are celebrating one of the gifts that Tim Heimann brought to Knox College and the Memorial Gym renovation.

You see, it isn't just the court of this gymnasium that is named for Tim Heimann, but in his new role as a major gifts officer in 2008, after his retirement as head basketball coach, Tim was responsible for finding the funds to complete the renovation. So he went on the road in search of friends and funds for a variety of Knox priorities. Priorities like making sure that students, parents, alumni, and local fans attending basketball and volleyball games in this venue, and events like today's tribute, could actually hear the announcer call the plays and speakers, like today's assembled group, impart our stories. Tim's 30-year relationship with a basketball player that he'd coached, cajoled, and huddled with at the K at center court led to the five-figure gift that funded this speaker system for the gym.

Not bad for someone who upon arrival at his new job in Advancement said apprehensively, "I've never asked anyone for anything."

We quickly learned that Tim was very low tech -- he promised to learn to type and check e-mail, and eventually did reply to e-mails by actually typing. He learned Microsoft Word so he could type his reports of visits with alumni rather than submit them on a legal pad scribbled in pencil. Yes, Tim's writing instrument of choice remained a pencil. When he proudly submitted his first attempt at an alumni visit report and received it back with a number of corrections and question marks, Tim was heard to comment to Bob King, his new boss, "Geez, even Bill Brady didn't make that many corrections."

Coach Heimann left a private office in the Fieldhouse to join two other gift officers in an office shared by all three. He purposely chose the middle cubicle sandwiched in between the other two so he could pick up tips and learn from both how to be a fundraiser for Knox. In the end, both Mark Wilson and Jim Lynch became the students gaining insights about alumni and developing relationships.

On many days, Tim arrived at work with a canister of you-name-it sitting in the crook of his arm that for years had cradled a basketball. Some days it was still-warm chocolate chip cookies baked by Cathy Heimann. Other days it was Donna Lindsey's puppy chow snack mix. Thanks to Tim's close friendship with the president of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, we enjoyed frequent deliveries of Double Mint, Juicy Fruit, and Skittles. Sorry, Duke, but Hershey's Kisses wrapped in purple and gold foil adorned his desk too, along with framed pictures of grandkids.

For all the ribbing Tim took about his "low tech" approach, Tim brought "high touch" to a new art form. And that's why so many of you here today have traveled hours, and maybe even days, to honor a man who preferred looking you in the face rather than adding a comment on your Facebook page, who preferred calling you on the phone and laughing with you rather than sending a silent message via cyberspace.

You could never not have a conversation with Tim. Perfect eye contact, an easy-going smile that slowly curled up while listening, a gentle hand on your shoulder, and an earnest sense of interest were what one noticed when spending time with Tim. At the end, he'd say, "Kiddo, that was fun! Let's do this again!"

And, like his mentor Harley Knosher, Tim had a memory for details. He never referred to our computer database to learn anything about decades of alumni as he knew more about them than the computer.

Give him a name and you were in for an information dump. The dissertation would always start with "Greatest guy or gal in the world...loves Knox." Everybody in Tim's mind loved Knox, and he could find something good to say about everyone.

If a name stumped him, Cathy was his phone-a-friend. There are many of you here today who we know a little more about than you might want us to know, thanks to Tim and Cathy.

In the few months Tim was actively involved with Advancement, he raised close to $100,000 for various Knox projects, and over the past two years, around $400,000 in gifts have been made with the caveat that I'm making this gift because of my relationship with Tim Heimann.

As Tim huddled with Advancement over the past 11 months to update us on his personal victories and his letdowns, he always asked how everyone else was doing before he'd talk about his own issues. As he spent time in Chicago undergoing operations and treatments, his days were frequently filled with lunch, dinner, and phone calls with alumni ...everyone wanted time with Tim.

Tim's major gifts teammates gave me the following things for which, thanks to Tim, they, and we all, now have a better understanding of the importance of:

Making every day count.
Of being positive.
Of making others feel good.
Of smiling often.
Of being a good listener.
Of being proud of Knox.

Almost every conversation with Tim drew to a close with a few sentences like this, that seem quite fitting for today:

"Listen, kiddo. I've got to go, but it was great talking with you! We'll do it again soon."