Columbia Daily Tribune sports editor remembered

Nov. 1 marks the sixth year anniversary of the death of Kent Heitholt.

By Roseann Moring, Senior Staff Writer
Oct. 30, 2007

This is the first in a four-part series about Kent Heitholt, his death and the trial of Ryan Ferguson, who was convicted of the murder. The next part will talk about Ferguson's life as a 23-year-old who has been in jail since 2005.

Kent Heitholt, a well-known sports editor at the Columbia Daily Tribune, showed both his interest in people and his wit throughout his articles and in life.

"He identified with the little guy," said Joe Walljasper, the current Tribune sports editor who was one of Heitholt's former coworkers. "He had a pretty good perspective on things."

Nov. 1 marks the sixth anniversary of the morning Heitholt's body was found outside the Tribune office, bludgeoned and strangled.

Heitholt was born in Lawrence, Kan., in 1953.

"He was a smiling, happy child and had a rather normal childhood," his parents, Bill and Dorothy Heitholt, said in an e-mail. "Obviously, he was introduced to sports, as his dad was a coach."

He went to John Burroughs School in St. Louis, where his father taught and coached.

"He was not a gifted athlete but was adequate to make the teams and to get experience of competition," his parents said in an e-mail.

Heitholt attended MU and graduated in 1975. He met his wife there, and they married in 1981.

He worked at several papers, including one in Jackson, Miss. and the Shreveport Times in Shreveport, La., before Heitholt and his family moved to Columbia in 1996 to take over the position of sports editor at the Tribune.

Kevin Broom, who was in the military stationed away from his hometown of Shreveport, La., would occasionally call the Shreveport Times to ask about local sports.

"He (Heitholt) made it a point to talk to me," Broom said. "He never gave me the impression that his time was more important than what we were doing."

Kumari Kelly was a copy editor at the Shreveport Times when Heitholt was the sports editor, and said she considered him a brother and a mentor.

"I can't say enough about him," she said. "He wrote about sports, but my god, he made me cry with some of his sports columns."

She said the two spent a lot of time together, and he helped her with writing.

After work, the two would go to a place called Murrell's, which she said was "a dive, a complete dive."

Both were married at the time, and Kelly said she always appreciated that his wife didn't mind the time they spent together.

"It was just — it was like his wife didn't even care," she said. "It was like we were coworker friends. It was so great."

Heitholt's cousin Chuck Hageman said everyone in the family was drawn to Heitholt.

"He was funny as heck," Hageman said. "He had a very dry sense of humor and amazing timing, as far as jokes and stories."

Hageman said at family reunions, he and Heitholt would talk for hours.

"It was heaven for me, and I know it was heaven for him too," Hageman said.

He was known for being funny and insightful in his writing as well.

"A lot of his writings were dripping with sarcasm," Hageman said. "He was able to say what other people where thinking without getting people mad at him, probably because people knew him. He was a softie at heart."

Walljasper said Heitholt focused on the underdog, making friends with high school coaches and others whose sports are generally undercovered or not covered at all.

In one of Heitholt's last articles, he covered what was a really bad game for the Columbia College women's volleyball team.

"The unbeaten, unchallenged Columbia College women's volleyball team committed some most egregious, inexcusable errors last night," Heitholt wrote in the lede.

Walljasper said Heitholt would sometimes get frustrated with his job. One memorable time, he slammed the door of his office so hard the lock stuck. He pounded on the window, but since the office used to be a radio station, the office was soundproof. But later, Walljasper said Heitholt was able to laugh about it.

"He could also slam a door like nobody's business," Tribune coworker Joe Dicus said. "You know that stereotypical, cranky-editor-on-deadline door slam that would shake the building to its very foundations. I miss that."

Walljasper said Heitholt was known for playing host to people in his office.

He said Heitholt eventually posted a sign outside his office that said, "Maximum occupancy: 2" to deal with all the people who came by wanting to talk to him.

Of course, the sign was facetious, and Heitholt continued to allow people in his office until his death.

When he died, he had been feeding a stray cat outside the Tribune building.

"He was a great bear of a man with a kind heart. I always thought the story of the night of his death was indicative of that," said PJ Shields, the higher education editor at the time of Heitholt's death.

His parents said when they learned of his death, they decided to concentrate on the fact that they had Kent in their lives for 48 years.

"He was a blessing in our lives," they said. "He was a good son, husband and father."

Heitholt's daughter Kali Heitholt declined to comment.

Kelly said about a month and a half before he died, Heitholt called her out of the blue just to talk, and she is really glad she got that chance to speak with him then.

"I miss the guy so fucking much," Kelly said. "I don't miss many people like I miss Kent."

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Columbia Daily Tribune sports editor remembered

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