L. Kathy Heilenman, 64, passed away on Friday, July 31, 2009 in Iowa City after a lengthy struggle with breast cancer. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, August 4 at the Old Brick Church, 26 E. Market Street, Iowa City.
Kathy was born on April 25, 1945 in Louisville, Kentucky, the daughter of George and Laura (O’Brien) Heilenman. She was a graduate of Eastern High School in Middletown, Kentucky and received her doctoral degree in Foreign Language Education from the University of Louisville. Before coming to the University of Iowa in 1989, she taught French at middle school, high school, and post-secondary levels in Kentucky, Virginia, Illinois, and Louisiana. At the UI she held faculty appointments in the Department of French and Italian and the Department of Teaching and Learning. She directed the French language program and taught courses in Second Language Acquisition, Foreign Language Education, and French language. She was also a founding co-director of Foreign Language Acquisition Research and Education (FLARE) and its doctoral program in Second Language Acquisition.
Kathy’s scholarly contributions include serving as lead author of Voilà, a first-year college French textbook, now in its fourth edition. Her work also appears in numerous scholarly journals and edited volumes. She served as the president of the Kentucky Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French (1978), president of the Text and Academic Authors Association (1994-1995), president of the American Association of University Supervisors, Coordinators, and Directors of Foreign Language Programs (1994-1996), and chair of the Research Special Interest Group of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (2000).
She touched directly the lives of the hundreds of students, young scholars, and colleagues who were fortunate enough to work with her, and indirectly the thousands of students who learned French through her textbook. In the past decade alone, she served as director or co-director of 10 dissertations and served on 35 committees for PhD, MA, undergraduate Honors, and International Programs students.
When not engaged in her academic activities, Kathy could always be found outdoors with her dogs. She loved her dogs (Bouviers and Border Collies) and the work they shared in several sports, especially herding. Through weekly lessons she generously shared her expertise with novice herding dog owners. Over many years she also competed in, taught, and judged dog obedience and agility. A member and diligent supporter of the North American Working Bouvier Association (NAWBA), Kathy was known and respected by working dog fanciers throughout the world. She served terms as secretary and as president of the organization and could always be depended upon to share knowledge, provide leadership, and shoulder much of the load. Among her many NAWBA friends Kathy will always be remembered as a true leader, a tireless supporter, and an effective teacher not only about our canine partners, but about life itself. She also served the community through her work with 4–H clubs on dog obedience training.
She is survived by Daniel O’Leary, her husband of 30 years; her daughter Lisa Meyer Graft (Emmett Graft) and granddaughter Lauren Rose; and sisters Diane Heilenman (Harry Johns) and Christina Heilenman. She was preceded in death by her parents.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary, 400 Rolling Dog Ranch Lane, Ovando, Montana, 59854.
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Dr. L. Kathy Heilenman was an influential language scholar, teacher, and mentor in the fields of second language acquisition and language pedagogy. The lead author of Voilà: An Introduction to French (now in its fourth edition), she also published scholarly articles in the Modern Language Journal, Language Learning, the Journal of Applied Psycholinguistics, and the Journal of French Linguistics. She also authored several book chapters and edited a volume in the series produced by the American Association of University Supervisors, Coordinators, and Directors of Foreign Language Programs. At the University of Iowa, she was a founding co-director of Foreign Language Acquisition Research and Education (FLARE) and its interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in Second Language Acquisition.
Kathy (which she much preferred being called, rather than Dr. Heilenman) earned an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Foreign Language Education from the University of Louisville. She taught French at the middle school, high school and post-secondary levels and directed French programs and taught second language teaching /learning /acquisition at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Northwestern University (Chicago), and Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge) before coming to the University of Iowa in 1989. With a joint appointment in the Department of French and Italian and the Department of Teaching and Learning, she taught graduate courses in Second Language Acquisition Theory and Research, the Cultural Curriculum, and Materials Development in Second Languages, and she also supervised the second-year French program. Kathy’s research interests include the role of culture in second language learning and teaching, materials development, and innovative curricula in second languages.
The memorial service for Kathy will be held this Tuesday, August 4, at 2:00 p.m. at the Old Brick Church and Community Center, 26 E. Market Street in downtown Iowa City.