Well-known ski writer Ted Heck, 94, died November 11, 2016. A football player and wrestler at Lehigh University in 1941, Heck entered the U.S. Army after Pearl Harbor as a private. While serving in France with the 70th Infantry Division, he earned a Bronze Star and Silver Star for gallantry, and an Air Medal for work as an airborne artillery spotter. He received a field commission and, as a captain, commanded a company. In 2014, the French government awarded him the Legion of Honor.
After the war, Heck returned to Lehigh University, where he graduated with a master’s degree in English literature. He went to work as a food-industry marketing executive, eventually joining a succession of advertising agencies to oversee accounts for major consumer brands. Meanwhile, he served as a college football official and play-by-play announcer for WPCA in Pennsylvania and for the Armed Forces Network.
A major sideline was travel writing. In addition to writing magazine features, Heck served as ski columnist for the Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Patriot News and as a contributor to OnTheSnow.com. With Bob Enzel and Bob Wall, he published The Blue Book of European Ski Resorts, now online at bluebookski.com.
Heck is survived by children Todd (Maureen) and Barbara (“Bobbie”) Butterfield; brother William (Katie); fiancée Constance Abend and her children and grandchildren, and several nephews and nieces. He was predeceased by his brother Guy.
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