Obituaries

Obituary: Norman Hildes-Heim, 75, Architect

A funeral Mass will take place on Saturday, April 6 at 10 a.m. at St. Pius X Roman Catholic Church in Fairfield.

[Editor's note: This obituary was provided by Lesko & Polke Funeral Home.]

Norman Erik Hildes-Heim, architect, international hotel developer and former Rowing correspondent for The New York Times, died suddenly March 20 at his home in Fairfield, Connecticut. He was 75.

He was educated at Andover and received his A.B. in history from Columbia University in 1960, where he rowed crew. He spent a year at Cambridge University, England and earned a master’s degree in Architecture from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.

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Hildes-Heim designed and developed hotels at John Carl Warnecke & Associates for InterContinental Hotels Group and Bechtel’s International Division and later as a partner with Hotel Development Associates.

He covered rowing events around the world, including The Henley Royal Regatta as a freelance writer for The New York Times. He also coached the lightweight rowing team at Columbia while shuttling back and forth from New York to Boston to teach a course at Harvard. He was a ‘teaching visitor’ at the University of British Columbia School of Architecture and was awarded the UBC Honorary Alumnus Award for his significant contribution to UBC by a non-alumnus.

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The job he said he enjoyed the most was lifeguarding at Fairfield’s Jennings Beach each summer for the past 54 years. He especially loved gardening, Long Haired Highland Cattle and the music of Cole Porter, Gershwin, Rogers and Hammerstein, the Broadway musical stage and the Opera. He was a mentor and a friend who, through his selfless efforts, changed the lives of his student oarsmen as well as friends in crisis.

Hildes-Heim was born in Fairfield, Connecticut on February 20, 1938 to Claire, an opera singer and Erik, founder of Heim Bearings.

He is survived by his adopted son David Kardos. A funeral Mass will take place on Saturday, April 6 at 10 a.m. at St. Pius X Roman Catholic Church, 834 Brookside Drive, in Fairfield. In keeping with his wishes, a committal service at sea will be private.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to: Hildes-Heim Foundation, Inc., c/o McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP, Attorneys at Law, 30 Jelliff Lane, Southport, Connecticut 06890, Att. Robert J. Berta. For travel directions, or to sign his online guest register, please visit www.LeskoPolkeFuneralHome.com.


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