Obituary of Walter Layton Heath

Walter L. “Tony” Heath, Jr., 85, died at the Sussman House in Rockport, Maine on Sunday, September 18th after a brief illness. Tony, as he was called by his old friends, was born in Orange, NJ, the son of Walter L. Heath and Evelyn (Bowen) Heath. He grew up in Summit, NJ and attended Summit schools and Upsala College. Mr. Heath’s first job was in the sales department of the Nickel-Iron-Alkaline Battery division of Edison Industries. His next job was with the Valspar Paint Company where he was responsible for their marine paint sales in New Jersey. The next seven years were spent selling General Motors diesel engines for marine and industrial use. In 1963 Mr. Heath started his own business. The Walter L. Heath Co, Inc. was a distributor of a wide variety of emergency equipment selling to industrial, state, and municipal accounts. After a slow beginning the business succeeded and he was able to retire at 50 and move to Maine where he had spent many happy summers while growing up. Mr. Heath enjoyed the outdoors, anything mechanical, building things, target shooting, and a nice cold beer. He was a Mason and belonged to the Condon-Overlook Lodge #163 in Bernardsville, NJ for over 50 years. He was predeceased by his companion of many years, Avis Whittaker. He is survived by two daughters; Helen Silk and her partner Robert Guthrie of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and Lea Carver and her husband Dick of Owls Head, Maine, as well as three grandchildren; Charles Silk, Charlie Carver and Christina Carver. The family is grateful to Mr. Heath’s caregiver Rona Spear for her extraordinary care and kindness during the last two years. There will be no service and his ashes are to be buried in the family plot in NJ.