He died in a house fire last week
Josh Hein describes his father, Joe, as “Superman and Clark Kent combined.”
Superman because he offered an incredible amount of assistance to all manner of people and Clark Kent because he was so humble about it.
“If there was anybody ever … who needed help with something, he would be the first person people would call,” Josh said. “He was the guy who always had jumper cables.”
Joe Hein, 73, died in a fire that started late Sunday, Nov. 2, at his residence at 996 Millcreek Drive. His wife, Debbie, survived after Henderson Police Department officers located her and rescued her. One officer, Zachary Wareyko, busted through a window, found her and then helped her get out of another window, where HPD officers were outside to help her get out. Josh Hein’s son, Kevin, was also in the home and got out.
According to Josh and his wife, Rebecca, Joe’s life was spent helping others.
Joe worked 20 years in the IT department of PB&S Chemicals before taking a position as a job coach with special needs students at Henderson County High School, said his son.
“He loved it,” Josh said. “Helping those kids, making those connections, seeing their faces when they would finally get something. He got more pleasure out at the high school than he ever thought about getting working with technology.”
Rebecca said Joe was a people person—and an animal lover. Mix the two together and you’d see Joe out in his neighborhood walking a dog and talking to everyone he came in contact with, she said.
Josh said over his life he knows that his family has had six dogs and at least 15 cats—and one iguana, the only pet Joe didn’t care for. The family also had four horses, which Joe also took care of.
In addition to Josh and Rebecca, Joe leaves behind Debbie, his wife of 51 years; another son, Jacob, who is the choir director at Daviess County High School; and grandchildren, Cassie Sisk and Kevin. The family is currently working on finding a new home for Debbie.
Josh and Rebecca also remember Joe as a religious man, but not in a manner that he would try to speak at you. He more often talked about his faith when he was asked a question and then he could talk at length. Josh said he knew his Bible.
That may be part of the reason for the connection he made with former Gleaner columnist Billy Edwards. Joe took a job as caregiver for Edwards, who had cerebral palsy, for several years near the end of Edwards’ life.
The pair became close friends, and according to Edwards’ sister, Brucie Farris, Hein went above and beyond what other caregivers had.
“He did things for Billy that nobody would ever do,” Farris said.
Though he was paid as a caregiver, “he was more than a caregiver,” Farris said. “He was a very special part of our family.”
Farris recently shared a post from Joe’s Facebook page the day that Edwards died in 2015. He wrote about Edwards now up in Heaven running, jumping and dancing in joy and Edwards’ love of food, watching movies, gospel music and his passion for his writing—which was his way to connect with people.
“There is one last thing that Mr. William Edwards had that I hope I can encourage all of us to do. That one thing is Billy taught me to try and love unconditionally,” Joe wrote.
Farris said the feeling was reciprocated, and that “when Joe walked into (Billy’s) life, it was a blessing.”
She also said she didn’t remember how it was that Joe was hired, “but thank God we did.”
Steve Tow worked with Hein at Henderson County High School, and said Joe’s position as a job coach required patience, which Tow said Hein had plenty of. Joe eventually got moved to a program assistant. The responsibilities that can arise in a classroom, according to Tow, are “diverse.”
“Joe never flinched,” he said.
Tow also described Joe as “even keel” who never spoke above a conversation level and “never a cross word.”
Tow moved over to Central Academy at some point, and before he retired, he would go to HCHS and seek out Joe, who always had a ribbing waiting for Tow’s Dallas Cowboys. Joe was a Packers fan.
Josh and Rebecca also remembered Joe’s unique traits. They say he was the remote control boss—he kept the clicker close and he was the one who changed the channel. And one could make a pretty good guess about what Joe would be watching—the range of programming included University of Kentucky basketball, NASCAR, Green Bay Packers football, Christmas movies, Harry Potter movies, Wheel of Fortune and the news—NBC news to be exact, said Rebecca.
And Josh laughed at the free sweepstakes his dad used to enter—the ones where you punch in your email address and hope for a response. His crowning achievement in this realm was a $200 Prairie Farms win which allowed him 25-cent milk purchases, Rebecca said.
It tickled him. “He was not a materialistic person,” Josh said.
In addition to helping so many others in the community, he also took care of Debbie with her own health concerns, Josh said.
Rebecca said it’s “ridiculous the amount of help” the family has received so far from the community after the fire and Joe’s death.
“We could fill a mansion with all the things people have offered,” she said, adding that they are thankful to live in a town where “people jump to help each other in times of need.”
“And genuinely care,” Josh said.
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Rebecca has set up a gofundme page to help with Debbie Hein’s expenses. Click here to help.
