Wheeling trustee had same approach to politics, policing

For Wheeling trustee and retired Buffalo Grove police officer Robert Heer, the roles of politician and police officer were two sides of the same coin.

It all boiled down to giving to people — something Heer mastered both in life and death.

Heer, 58, who was elected to the Wheeling village board in 1995 and retired as a Buffalo Grove police officer in 2012, died Wednesday at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, according to a village news release.

A Wheeling resident since 1981, Heer is survived by his wife, Cathy, sons Nick and Andy and daughter Kaitlyn.

The release said he was surrounded by his family when he died and that his last act was to donate his organs “and give the gift of life to another family this Christmas.”

“The biggest thing is that he took care of people and made people safe and helped them out while living, but now he's going to be an organ donor and he'll be helping out more people when he has passed,” said Heer's daughter, Kaitlyn. “He's still going to be living on, just in a different form and still helping people, giving people that Christmas miracle. We didn't get one, but if somebody else can, he was all about that.”

Buffalo Grove police Lt. Tony Gallagher said Heer had suffered a mild stroke 15 years ago and had also suffered bleeding on the brain after hitting his head about five or six years ago.

This week, Gallagher said, Heer underwent surgery for a hernia on Monday. After he returned home, Heer complained about not feeling well. Later, he suffered a massive stroke and collapsed.

Initially taken to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, he was transferred to Northwest Memorial Hospital, where he died.

As significant as his political and law enforcement roles were, Heer's main focus was on family, Gallagher said.

“He always made sure he made football games, basketball games for the kids and cheered them on,” said Gallagher, who first met Heer in 1979 during a police roll call. “He made sure he took care of his family. And that's why he kept on working. He made sure he gave his family whatever they wanted.”

Heer's son Andy remembered his dad as a kindhearted, hard worker who put others before himself and made an impact on the community.

“He was just a wonderful individual. He'll sorely be missed,” Andy Heer said.

Heer's son Nick said his father especially enjoyed his new twin grandsons, Seamus and Jameson.

“He just absolutely was over the moon when they were born,” he said. “He would do anything for them.”

Wheeling Village President Dean Argiris said Heer's loss is “beyond a shock. It's mind-boggling and numbing.”

Heer was a team player on the village board, Argiris said.

“You see the way the image of our community is — Bob was part of that,” he said. “It wasn't just one individual. It was all of us buying into an idea — how do we make this community better?”

The results, he said, are evident in the village's comprehensive plans, zoning and ordinances.

Argiris said the board and staff will be deciding this week on how to honor Heer.

“We're going to do something, for sure,” he said.

Heer had filed to run for re-election. Now, Argiris will have to appoint a successor to fill Heer's remaining term.

Heer retired as a sergeant from the Buffalo Grove Police Department in March 2012 after serving for 33 years.

A motorcade accompanied him out of the village on his last day of service.

He was also honored by the Buffalo Grove village board for his work with students at Buffalo Grove High School as liaison officer and with senior citizens at the Alcott Center as a crime prevention officer.

“Everybody has their niche in life, and most cops could not do what Bob did and do it as well as Bob did it,” Gallagher said. “Anybody that needed help, he would listen to. He was a great listener. He would listen and then figure it out.”

And although he was recognized everywhere he went, Gallagher said, “He didn't do it for recognition. He just wanted to do it for people.”

After retiring from the police force, Heer returned to Buffalo Grove High School as a security guard.

“One of the reasons, I think, he was so good at his job as being in that role of school resource officer is because he could connect with high school students in a way that is difficult for many adults to do,” said Buffalo Grove Trustee Michael Terson, a former police cadet at the high school who met Heer in 1986.

Their friendship grew when Heer came to the Alcott Center to work with the seniors.

“The seniors just loved him. When he walked in the room, there was a very noticeable change in the energy of that room. And people lit up,” he said. “And he really cared about them.”