Howard Richard Heller, known to friends and family as Dick, was born December 16, 1944 in Providence, RI. He passed away peacefully on April 26, 2025, at his residence at New Horizons in Marlborough, MA. Son of the late Norman and Caroline (Bertsch) Heller, Dick grew up in Cranston, RI and graduated from Cranston High School East in 1963. He obtained his undergraduate degree in physical education from Northeastern University in 1968. He was drafted into the US Army in 1969 and honorably discharged in 1975.
Dick was teaching on Long Island, NY when he met the love of his life, Claudia Wohlfarth. They married on December 21,1969 in Central Islip, NY. After his discharge, the couple settled in Wayland, MA where they spent 51 happy years. There they raised their two boys, Christopher and Matthew, and hosted friends and family for countless holiday meals and special occasions. Dick was hired straight from college to the Wellesley schools before being drafted. He came back to teach middle school health and physical education, and retired as the computer repair technician of the full Wellesley public school district. As computer and internet technology grew rapidly in the early 90’s, Dick took great pride in creating his own business, MacAssistance, repairing clients’ computers and software. He was often heard at the dinner table discussing tech issues.
Dick had a lifelong passion for athletics which he enjoyed playing, coaching, and watching on all levels. He played hockey while attending Northeastern University. At Wellesley High School, he coached girls varsity softball, soccer, and basketball. His soccer team won a state title in 1996. Dick was named Coach of the Year by the Boston Globe, and was entered into the Massachusetts State Soccer Association Hall of Fame in 2009. He also found great joy in coaching his sons’ various teams over the years, and playing in a local men’s soccer league.
To know Dick was to love him. He had a quick wit and dry sense of humor, but above all, an unconditional love for his family and friends. His greatest enjoyments in life included spending time with loved ones over a home cooked meal or a game of cribbage, vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard in the summertime, visiting his in-laws on Long Island, and taking long bike rides. Dick was a great cook known for his beautiful antipasto, chicken cacciatore, and Thanksgiving feasts, which he prepared annually with his wife Claudia. He was always ready with a glass raised to make a poignant toast. While briefly stepping back from coaching following a heart attack in 1991, Dick was quoted in the local newspaper by saying “When you try to slice up the pie into equal wedges and there are more wedges than time, something has to give. You have to plan for the future and sometimes that means a change of pace.
…A valiant reminder that life is sweet and to make the most of the time with those you love.
His legacy lives on in the hearts of those he loved: Claudia, his wife of 55 years, his sons, Christopher (Kristen) and Matthew (Samantha) Heller; his grandchildren Anderson & Jackson Heller of Holliston, MA and Jocelyn Heller, Lilah, Jaxson & Evelynn Brookman of Auburn, MA, his sibling Barbara (George) Ross of Coopersburg, PA in addition to many nephews, nieces, cousins, friends, and extended family.
Family and friends will gather to honor and remember Dick’s life at John C Bryant Funeral Home, 56 Pemberton Road, Cochituate Village, Wayland, MA on Saturday, May 3, 2025 from 10:00-12:00. Burial will be private at a later date.
His devotion to his wife, Claudia, was unwavering. In lieu of flowers, contributions to honor Dick’s memory can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association in hopes that future couples may stay together in their golden years. https://donorservices.alz.org/
