HENRY D’ARCY HECK

April 18, 1939 – Oct. 13, 2014

 

Henry d’Arcy Heck of Norfolk, Virginia, son of Harold J. and Suzanne Holt Heck, died on Oct. 13, 2014 of multiple myeloma. Mr. Heck was born in Bryn Mawr, PA, on April 18, 1939, attended Catholic elementary and high schools in New Orleans, Princeton University (AB with honors, 1961), and Northwestern Univ. (Ph.D., 1964), where he was a National Science Foundation (NSF) fellow. He was an NSF fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Physical Chemistry, Germany, Asst. Professor of Chemistry at the Univ. of California, Berkeley, and analytical chemist at Stanford Research Institute, Menlo Park, CA. Mr. Heck subsequently spent 22 years at the Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology, Research Triangle Park, NC. He was an author of over 100 scientific articles and reviews, and he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Society of Toxicology journal, Toxicological Sciences. He also mentored several postdoctoral students, who went on to successful careers in analytical toxicology.

Survivors include Mercedes Casanova, his wife of 30 years, daughter Katherine, husband Dan Troy, and grandchildren, Owen and Douglas, all of Davis, CA; daughter Julia, husband Brian, and grandchildren, Josephine and Elodie, all of Lynchburg, VA; step-son John Schmitz of Arlington, VA; and step-daughter Lara Schmitz and step-grandchildren, Nathanael and Nicholas, of Columbia, SC. Mr. Heck is also survived by one brother, Thomas, of Santa Barbara, CA, his wife, Anne, and their children and grandchildren.

Mr. Heck together with his wife, Mercedes, was an avid sailor, and they shared a mutual interest in genealogical and historical research in France and Spain.

In lieu of cards or flowers, donations may be made to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and/or to Symphonicity of Virginia Beach.