Palmer T. Heenan ’43

Pete died Feb. 29, 2016. He prepared for Princeton at the Detroit University School, where he was captain of the basketball team. At Princeton, he graduated with honors from the School of Public and International Affairs. He was a member of Charter Club and Whig-Clio.

He went on to the University of Michigan Law School, where he was a member of Phi Delta Phi. In the early 1950s Pete and his brother, Earl Heenan ’41, purchased Detroit Mortgage and Realty.

Pete was very active in politics, serving as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1968 and 1980. In 1976, President Gerald Ford appointed Pete to the Assay Commission, which oversees the coinage of the United States.

At age 60, he was elected mayor of Grosse Pointe Park, Mich., and held the job for 32 years. There were only three elections in which he was opposed.

Pete was ordained as an elder of the Presbyterian Church and in 1980, he helped to found a new denomination, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

Pete was predeceased by his wife of 49 years, Jayne, and daughter Catherine. He is survived by his son, Palmer Jr.; daughters Betsy Fox and Page Heenan ’86; and eight grandchildren.