Mervin A. Heller, Jr., a 1990 inductee to the East Stroudsburg University Athletic Hall of Fame and former president, chairman and chief executive of the U.S. Tennis Association, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 65.
Heller was the PSAC champion at first singles and doubles in 1968, and third singles and doubles in 1969, while compiling a 35-0 career record against conference opponents. He helped ESU to three PSAC titles and a third-place finish in the 1969 NCAA Division II Championship.
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courtesy of the Reading Eagle
Mervin A. Heller Jr. of Bethlehem and formerly of Berks County died on Aug. 21, 2012.
He was born June 10, 1947, in Reading, PA, son of the late Mervin A. Heller Sr. and Rachel Turkington.
Mervin will be lovingly remembered by his wife, Jan S. Heller of Bethlehem; daughters: Marnie A. Healey and her husband, Nathan, of Wyomissing, Christina Heller of Los Angeles, CA, Katie Heller of San Francisco, CA, and Jenna Berninger of Baltimore, MD; as well as his grandchildren, Ana and Vieve Healey.
He was preceded in death by his aunt, Lillian Heller.
He will be remembered for his dynamic and passionate personality, the strength and perseverance displayed through adversity and his genuine love of making people happy.
Mervin graduated from East Stroudsburg University (ESU). He played on the school's tennis team and went undefeated in conference matches for his entire four years.
During his years as an ESU student, Mervin was a member of Alpha Chi Fraternity, served as sports editor of the Stroud Courier, created the position of sports information director and founded the Varsity "S" Club.
Upon graduation, he held the school record for career wins in singles and doubles. In 1990, Mervin was inducted into the ESU Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2010, he was recognized by his alma mater with the Helen G. Brown Award for his extraordinary professional accomplishments.
Mervin went on to receive his law degree from the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Law and was President of the law firm of Leisawitz Heller.
Mervin served as Chairman of the Board and President of the United States Tennis Association, completing his two-year term in 2002. He began with the USTA in 1974 as President of the Lehigh Valley District Tennis Association. In 1991, he was first elected to the USTA Board of Directors, serving as its Secretary/-Treasurer in 1993-1994. Then, in 1999, he became Vice President.
He is a former President, Vice President and Section Delegate of USTA Middles States Section. In 1991, he was given the USTA Middle States Mangen Award, an annual award given to an individual who has made significant contributions to the game of tennis in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.
He was honored with the USTA/MSTA Media Award in 1995 for his outstanding contributions to tennis through the media. In 1998, Mervin was inducted into the USTA Middle States Hall of Fame.
In 2003, he received the prestigious Samuel Hardy Award from the International Tennis Hall of Fame for long and outstanding service to tennis.
In 1992, Mervin established the Berks County Tennis Association (BCTA), a community tennis association serving his hometown of Reading, as well as the surrounding communities.
In 1999, the Reading Eagle-Times newspaper recognized him as one of the 50 most influential sports figures over the past 50 years in Berks County.
He was inducted into the Berks County Tennis Association Hall of Fame in 1998 and in 2009; Mervin was elected to the Berks County chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.
Mervin was very dedicated to his community and had served for over ten years on the Board of Directors and as legal counsel for the Berks County Chamber of Commerce and was a former Chairman and former Finance Chairman of the Berks County Republican Party.
He was actively involved with numerous charitable organizations, including the Greater Berks Development Fund, the American Heart Association, Leadership Berks, Children's Home of Reading, the American Red Cross, Berks County Chapter, and the Berks Area Reading Transportation Authority.
A visitation will be celebrated on Monday, Aug. 27, 2012, from 3 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Connell Funeral Home, 245 E. Broad St., Bethlehem, PA 18018. Another visitation will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012, from 1 to 3:45 p.m. with a service to follow at 4 p.m. at the Central Moravian Church, 73 W. Church St. Bethlehem, PA 18018 (corner of Main and W. Church Streets).
Interment will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012, at the Mifflinville Cemetery in Mifflinville, PA.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Greater Reading Economic Partnership, 201 Penn Street, Suite 502, Reading, PA 19601; (610) 376-4237 or Berks County Community Foundation (please memo Berks County Tennis Fund, 237 Court Street, Reading, PA 19601.)
The family encourages friends to visit
www.connellfuneral.com to share memories, photos and videos.
The Connell Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF MERVIN A. HELLER, JR.
compiled by the Reading Eagle
Mervin A. Heller Jr., a Reading High School graduate, received a bachelor's degree in education from East Stroudsburg University, for which he had been a two-time Pennsylvania Conference champion of the U.S. Tennis Association.
He received a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1973.
In 1976, he barely won a write-in primary campaign to get the Republican nomination for the state Senate seat held by Michael A. O'Pake, a city Democrat. O'Pake had launched his own write-in campaign in the Republican primary, losing to Heller by only 77 votes. Heller's slogan was "Give'Em Heller," but O'Pake trounced him in the fall general election.
In 1977, he was a defense attorney in the murder trial of Steven D. Frederick, convicted of the fatal stabbing of 46-year-old Dureme M. Kunkel in her Longswamp Township trailer-park home. The case went on appeal for years.
Since then he had been:
• Longtime solicitor for the Berks County Convention Center Authority, helping with its legal battles in the late 1990s and early 2000s to buy and raze the former Astor Theatre, buy the former Rajah Theatre, enact the 5 percent hotel-room tax and get the arena built.
• Berks County GOP chairman.
• Longtime solicitor for the Berks County Solid Waste Authority.
• Longtime BARTA board member.
• Managing partner of the Leisawitz Heller law firm
• Municipal lawyer, as solicitor for several townships or their planning and zoning boards.
• Attorney for numerous outside companies, including Giant Foods, Hill International, Lehigh Cement, Leader Family Corp., and KTI Holdings, which wanted to build a local trash-to-steam plant.
• Either the attorney for or a partner in numerous firms focusing on housing or business construction.
• Chairman of what is now the Greater Reading Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
• Attorney for numerous business clients, from trailer parks to soda bottling companies.
• A member of former County Commissioner Glenn B. Reber's election campaign.
• President of Leadership Berks.
• Member of the Greater Berks Development Fund.
• Chairman of what is now the Greater Reading Economic Partnership.
• Leader of the Berks County Voters for Effective Government.
• Solicitor for the Berks County Industrial Development Authority.
• President, chairman and chief executive of the U.S. Tennis Association in 2001 and 2002, when he also was chairman of the US Open.
• Vice president and board member of the International Tennis Federation. His work with both organizations brought him in touch with numerous heads of state, leaders of countries, and many professional athletes. In 1999, the Reading Eagle recognized him as "one of the 50 most influential sports figures over the past 50 years" in Berks County.
COMMUNITY MEMBER MERVIN A. HELLER, JR. REMEMBERED
by Don Spatz
of the Reading Eagle
Mervin A. Heller Jr. - longtime attorney, former Berks County GOP chief and the civic center solicitor early on when it was facing numerous legal battles to get the Sovereign Center built and paid for - has died in St. Luke's Hospital, Bethlehem, following a long illness. He was 65.
"We're devastated by his loss. There's no other way to put it," said attorney Jay N. Abramowitch, a partner in the Leisawitz Heller law firm in Spring Township, where Heller was managing partner. "His impact on the firm was really enormous. He was the original managing partner because of his business acumen and his ability to deal with all kinds of people."
He said Heller, who died Tuesday afternoon, didn't let his illness change him.
"He had this incredible philosophy of life, that if he'd help people, whether client or colleague, do what they need do, he'd be a beneficiary of that in being a better person," Abramowitch said. "Nobody had any bad word about him. People just loved him."
Heller had been a member or chairman of numerous local groups, from the Greater Reading Chamber of Commerce & Industry to Leadership Berks.
A college tennis champ, he also had been president, chairman and chief executive of the U.S. Tennis Association, and had chaired the US Open, one of the sport's most prestigious events.
In 1999, the Reading Eagle recognized Heller as "one of the 50 most influential sports figures over the past 50 years" in Berks County.
And community and business leaders said his passing will leave a hole in the community.
"He was one of those people you could always rely on," said another former GOP chief, Larry Medaglia. "He was one of the first people write a check to support a candidate."
When strategizing for an election campaign, especially in judicial races, Medaglia said, "He was as good as there was."
County Commissioner Christian Y. Leinbach called Heller a very good friend since the 1980s, and remembers him as someone who was frank, funny, honest and humble.
"He was never afraid to say what he thought needed to be said," Leinbach recalled, including a meeting in which Heller was emphatically frank with a transportation official, saying the state requirements to build Route 222 north left the county in a "Catch 222 situation."
"It was one of the great characteristics I admired about him," Leinbach said. "And he wasn't nasty about it."
Heller wasn't much of a joker, but still was funny and able to laugh at himself. In his unsuccessful 1976 campaign to unseat state Sen. Michael A. O'Pake, his slogan was "Give'Em Heller."
Leinbach said he was widely sought because people knew they could trust him.
"His word could be taken to the bank," Leinbach said.
But he said Heller was the bluest-collar white-collar worker he knew. Despite his business success, he didn't brag about it and treated people as equals. Leinbach said he often went to Heller for legal advice, and got that plus common sense as well.
"I will miss Merv Heller as a friend," Leinbach said. "There will be a lot of people in the community who did not realize how influential he was. He was always there, and he's going to be missed."
Jon C. Scott, president of the Greater Reading Economic Partnership, of which Heller had been chairman, said Heller did a huge amount of work behind the scenes.
"He was a dynamic leader, unbelievably committed to the greater Reading community," Scott said. "He didn't shy away from doing extra work. And he was an inspirational leader on top of it all."
County Commissioner Mark C. Scott worked closely with Heller for years when Scott was a member of the Berks County Solid Waste Authority and Heller was solicitor.
"His input was invaluable," Scott said. "He was encouraging and supportive and I really valued that. He was a strong advocate for the local community."
During those years, Scott said, the authority was involved in a high-profile legal battle with Browning Ferris Industries, and Scott said Heller was able to reach a settlement that saved local consumers tens of millions of dollars in disposal fees.
P. Michael Ehlerman, longtime chairman of the Berks County Convention Center Authority, said Heller helped the authority in a number of ways.
"He had an excellent reputation and served us very well," Ehlerman said. "He was a tennis player but he also was a damned good golfer."
