BRONX SCENE
John C. Heintz was fi rst Street Improvement chief
John McNamara gave me this original admission ticket to the 1905 affair which was raising
money to construct a memorial to Louis J. Heintz, the fi rst Street Commissioner of the Bronx
and general powerhouse throughout the borough. He died suddenly at age thirty-one and it
took a few years to get the memorial sculpted and placed in an appropriate location. I took this photograph of the Louis J. Heintz
110 1909-2019
Years Celebrating
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BRONX TIMES REPORTER, O BTR CTOBER 18-24, 2019 67
JOB OPPORTUNITY
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Is Seeking An Executive Director, Responsible For The
Administration, Financial Management And Day-To-
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by Tuesday, November 12, 2019.
memorial in Joyce Kilmer Park opposite the
East 161st Street courthouse east of Walton
Avenue on November 30, 1997. The statue
was moved on a couple of occasions, fi nding
its fi nal resting spot here in 1936.
John C. Heintz was the son of
Louis and Cornelia Heintz. He was
born on October 28, 1862 in Manhattan
and the family relocated to
the area we now know as the Bronx
when he was only a baby. His father
was one of the most popular government
officials and civic leaders of
the era and our first Street Improvement
commissioner.
He was only thirty-one years
old when he passed away and such
was his popularity that a public
conscription was taken up in 1905
and a statue of him by Pierre Fietu
was placed in the Concourse Plaza,
called Joyce Kilmer Park since 1926,
in 1909 and moved in its current location
opposite the courthouse on
East 161st Street off Walton Avenue
in 1936.
His son, John, also became quite
well known and led a host of organizations
before passing away at age
seventy of a heart attack. Among
the organizations he headed were
the Brewery Board of Trade, the
Greater New York Ice Manufacturing
Corporation, the Sound View
Land and Improvement Company
and the Schnorrer Club. He was
also vice president of the Interborough
Mutual Indemnity Insurance
Company, treasurer and a trustee
of the New York State Brewers Association,
a director of the North
Side Savings Bank, a member of the
Bronx Board of Trade and he was,
of course, involved with a variety of
lesser known entities.
He attended P. S. 61 on Third Avenue
between 169th and 170th streets
before going off to the Fuerst Military
Academy on College Point in
Queens.
After completing his education,
he went to work for his uncle, John
Eichler, at his Bronx brewery located
on Third Avenue at East 169th
Street. He performed a variety of
menial tasks learning the business
from the ground up.
By the time of his death in September
of 1933, he was president of
the company.
He left behind his wife of forty
years, Rosa Riegelman Heintz, their
only son, John Eichler Heintz, and a
sister, Minnie Heintz.
Funeral services were held in the
Bronx at St. John’s Lutheran Church
on Fulton Avenue between 169th and
170th Streets. He had a full and rich
life enjoying the organizations he
worked with and spending many of
his weekends fishing with friends in
Bay Shore, Long Island.
His son, John, a 1916 Princeton
graduate, became active in the brewery
a couple of years after being
mustered out of the 308th Field Artillery
Regiment where he served as
a first lieutenant during World War
I. He was wounded at the Battle of
Saint-Mihiel in northeastern France
in September of 1918 and took on a
number of positions of importance
in the Bronx upon his return.
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