Butler County Community College will celebrate the life of Robert R. Heaton, a friend of the college and real estate developer who passed away in January at age 91, at an event July 7 on BC3’s main campus in Butler Township.
The celebration of life event is open to the public and will begin at 2 p.m. under a framed tent in front of the Heaton Family Learning Commons. The celebration of life event is expected to conclude at 4 p.m. In the event of inclement weather, the event will be held in Founders Hall adjacent to the Heaton Family Learning Commons.
Members of the public are invited to speak at the celebration of life event. Scheduled speakers include Leanne Heaton and Dr. Nick Neupauer, president of BC3.
Light refreshments such as baked goods and bottled drinks will be available.
Flowers will also be available for guests to place on the steps of the Heaton Family Learning Commons.
Members of the public are requested to park in Parking Lot 2, where they can use a sidewalk that leads to the Heaton Family Learning Commons. Leanne Heaton plans to have the sidewalk lined with the 1955 and 2005 Ford Thunderbirds once owned by her father, and a 1957 Ford Thunderbird she owns.
Bob Heaton & BC3
Heaton’s $1 million gift to the college in July 2014 during the Pioneer Proud Campaign helped to fund BC3’s state-of-the-art $6.4 million Heaton Family Learning Commons, an academic and community library.
“That was his pride and joy,” Leanne Heaton said of her father, who adorned walls in his dining room in Butler and in his office in Lyndora with photographs of the facility. “He was constantly telling people about it.”
The two-story Heaton Family Learning Commons was dedicated in August 2016 and replaced the John A. Beck Jr. Library, which opened in 1973.
Heaton attended BC3 briefly in 1978, received an honorary distinguished alumni award from the college in 2014, and served as a board member of the BC3 Education Foundation from 2015 to 2019.
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