Obituary of Marvin E. Heater

Marvin Earl Heater passed away peacefully on Saturday, November 30th, 2019 in Salem, Oregon at the age of 90 years. Marv was born in Newberg, Oregon on August 31st, 1929. His parents were Clarence and Lenora Heater. Marv was a well-known football coach, administrator and influential leader in the Oregon community. He graduated from Linfield College with a business degree, where he also met his wife Jeanne Heater. After a year in banking, Marv had a change of heart and decided to pursue a career in coaching and teaching, earning his master’s degree in Teaching at Linfield. Marv was the head football coach at Drain, Central, and South Salem High Schools, winning state championships at Central in 1961 and South Salem in 1971. After a successful coaching tenure, he worked as Athletic Director at Sprague and then Assistant Principal at South Salem. In 1978 Marv opened McKay High School as Principal and remained there until he retired in 1986. After retirement, Marv went on to be the executive director for the Oregon High School Coaches Association until 2010, always staying close to the coaching and athletic world to his last days. He received many leadership and coaching awards for his service to the community. Marv loved his family deeply and shared many adventures with them in the outdoors – fishing, boating, hiking, and camping. He will be remembered as a devoted family man, who was kind and welcoming to everyone. Marv is survived by his wife of 68 years, Jeanne Heater, his sister, Beverly Zurcher, his 4 children, Jan Allen (Rick), Pamela Heater, Ann Martin (Frank) and Brian Heater, 8 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, January 11th, 2020 at 1 pm at the First United Methodist Church, 600 State St, Salem, Oregon. A reception will follow in the church community room. Contributions may be made to Salem-Keizer Beacons, PO Box 2630 Salem, OR 97308-2630 or go to their website at athletics.salemkeizerbeacons.com .