Bruce Graham Heavner

Bruce Graham Heavner was born on September 1, 1934 in Braymer, Missouri. Bruce spent his early childhood on a farm in rural Ray County, Missouri before moving with his family to Braymer in eighth grade. Bruce graduated from Braymer High School, where he was an avid reader of westerns and adventure novels, and was a member of the school’s football, basketball, and baseball teams. After high school, Bruce enlisted in the U.S. Air Force where he was a flight engineer. Bruce served in the Korean War, flying a variety of transport aircraft delivering both cargo and paratroopers throughout the Korean peninsula. Bruce often entertained his friends and family with many stories of his experiences in Asia during the war, including a near crash when his airplane had a run away propeller. While on Christmas leave from the Air Force in 1953, Bruce attended a high school basketball tournament where he met and fell in love with Sammie Sue Henry, who was home on her college Christmas break. The couple wed at Breckenridge Methodist Church on July 3, 1954 during an extreme 114° F heat wave.

After Bruce completed his military service, the couple relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, working a variety of jobs while Bruce attended law school at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Bruce was the editor of the Law Journal and graduated order of the coif. As a young lawyer, Bruce established a small Kansas City law firm, Owens & Heavner, with veteran criminal lawyer J.K.Owens. J.K. handled all the criminal cases and Bruce handled all the civil cases. Over the years, the firm grew significantly, adding lawyers that Bruce knew from law school and the local bar. Eventually, the firm became Heavner, Jarrett & Kimball, with offices in Kansas City, Braymer, Cameron, and Liberty. Bruce enjoyed a warm friendship with his law partners Cliff Jarrett, Don Kimball, Jim Jarrett, Ed Proctor, and Scott Gum.

Bruce and Sammie settled in Liberty, Missouri where they raised two sons, Bruce Brett Heavner and Samuel Bryce Heavner. Bruce and Sammie were active members of the Second Baptist Church and were involved parents in scouting, youth sports, and the Liberty Public Schools band programs. As
avid golfers, Bruce and Sammie were founding members of Liberty Hills Country Club where they enjoyed many years of golf tournaments in
Liberty and throughout the country. In his legal career, Bruce developed a specialty in municipal bond work, dedicating much of his time to establish
health care facilities, water districts, and other community institutions around Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, and other states. Among the institutions Bruce helped create are Liberty Hospital in Liberty, Missouri, Golden Age Nursing Home in Braymer, Missouri, and Citizens Memorial Hospital in Boliver, Missouri. Bruce served as president of the Kansas City Bar Association, President of the Missouri Trial Lawyers Association, and was on the governing board of the American Trial Lawyers Association. As part of his bar association work throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Bruce supported lobbying efforts to reform out-dated tort laws to better protect parties injured by unsafe products. Alongside his legal work, Bruce had an eclectic and wide-ranging entreprenurial spirit that led him to invest in a crazy quilt of business interests, including race horses, newborn infant footprinting technology, apple orchards, gutter cleaning equipment, elder care insurance, and various cattle and crop farms spread throughout several states. whether profitable or not, Bruce loved the challenge of learning about different industries and the adventure of starting a new enterprise. We were always waiting to see what new quest he would embark upon.

Bruce was a lover of history and intellectual discussion. Dinner table and late-night talk often centered on history, current events and public policy. Bruce and Sammie also had informal “book club” dinners with several couples in the Liberty area. Bruce loved nothing more than travelling with his family to experience historical and cultural sites throughout Europe, the Caribbean, and the U.S. He always sparked wonderful conversations about the churches, castles, battlefields, monuments, and natural wonders that we saw. Family get togethers always featured Bruce’s good-natured competitive banter over card games and Scrabble. Bruce was most proud of his humanitarian work. He handled many legal cases on a pro bono basis for people and organizations who needed legal services but had no funds to pay for it. Bruce was also an active donor and supporter of the City Union Mission in Kansas City. For decades, Bruce served as a volunteer and board member for Hillcrest Hope, a Liberty organization that provides housing, training, and stability to those in need, giving them a foundation to get back on their feet. Bruce also worked tirelessly with Hillcrest’s sister organizations throughout the Kansas City area to expand and solidify services to temporarily homeless families. Bruce’s efforts in this field were rec-
ognized in the 1990s when he received the Liberty Sertoma Club’s Service to Mankind Award. After a life journey of over 90 years, Bruce passed away
on February 6, 2025 near his sons’ homes in Falls Church, Virginia.

Bruce is survived by his wife of 70 years, Sammie Sue Heavner, his sons Bruce Brett Heavner (Christine) and Samuel Bryce Heavner (Diane) both of Arlington, Virginia, and grandchildren Graham Heavner, Tess Heavner, Kate Heavner, and Liam Heavner, as well as his brother William James Heavner (Debbie) of Cameron, Missouri, and a large extended family of nieces,nephews, and cousins. Bruce was preceded in death by his parents, Roscoe and Katie Heavner, his sister, Mary June Martin (Dean), and his sister, Judith Ann Bruns (Tom).

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 22, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. at Second Baptist Church in Liberty, Missouri. There will also be a brief graveside service at Evergreen Cemetery in Braymer, Missouri on Monday March 24, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in Bruce’s memory to Hillcrest Hope. https://www.hillcresthope.org/end-homelessness/donate.