Fred W. Heard (September 9, 1940 – August 1, 2023) was an American educator, a politician and an Episcopalian priest.

Biography

Fred W. Heard was born in

Prineville, Oregon Prineville is a city in and the county seat, seat of Crook County, Oregon, United States. It was named for the first merchant to establish businesses in the present location, Barney Prine. The population was 10,429 at the United States Census 2010 ...

on September 9, 1940. He attended elementary and

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

Klamath Falls Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city wa ...

. He received his bachelor's degree in

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

and later his master's in

secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...

from

Southern Oregon University Southern Oregon University (SOU) is a public university in Ashland, Oregon. It was founded in 1872 as the Ashland Academy, has been in its current location since 1926, and was known by nine other names before assuming its current name in 1997.Kre ...

Ashland, Oregon Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 in Oregon, Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population w ...

. He also earned a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...

degree from

Church Divinity School of the Pacific Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) is an Episcopal seminary in Berkeley, California. It is one of the nine seminaries in the Episcopal Church and a member of the Graduate Theological Union. The only Episcopal seminary located in the ...

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. Heard completed his

clinical pastoral education Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is education to teach spiritual care to clergy and others. CPE is the primary method of training hospital and hospice chaplains and spiritual care providers in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. ...

Oregon State Hospital Oregon State Hospital is a public psychiatric hospital in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the state's capital city of Salem, Oregon, Salem with a smaller satellite campus in Junction City, Oregon, Junction City opened in 2014. Founded in ...

's Forensics Unit. He served six months as interim minister at the

Congregational church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

in Klamath Falls. In July 2003 he was called to serve as associate rector at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in

Menlo Park, California Menlo Park ( ) is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, California, San Mateo County in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, California, Eas ...

. In January 2009, Heard was called as rector at Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in

Cambria, California Cambria () is a seaside village in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles along California State Route 1 (Highway 1). The name Cambria, chosen in 1869, is the Latin name for Wales (Welsh, ...

. He was called as assisting priest to Saint Paul's Episcopal Church in Salem in September 2014. Heard was called as Vicar of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in

Dallas, Oregon Dallas is a city and the county seat of Polk County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,854 at the 2020 census. Dallas is along Rickreall Creek, about west of Salem, at an elevation of above sea level. It is part of the Salem M ...

in January 2015 and retired in June 2022.

Career

Heard was a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

Klamath Union High School Klamath Union High School is a public high school located in Klamath Falls, Oregon, United States. History Funding of the school began in 1901, with the first graduate in 1903. The construction of the school began in 1927, with the first marchin ...

Klamath Falls, Oregon Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city ...

and later was an assistant professor at

Oregon Institute of Technology The Oregon Institute of Technology (Oregon Tech) is a public college in Oregon with a residential campus in Klamath Falls, Oregon, an urban campus in Wilsonville, Oregon, and additional locations in Salem, Oregon, Salem and Seattle. Almost all s ...

in Klamath Falls. He taught many subjects including

language arts English studies (or simply, English) is an academic discipline taught in primary, secondary, and post-secondary education in English-speaking countries. This is not to be confused with English taught as a foreign language, which is a distin ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in schools and colleges. He was principal of the Falls City, Oregon elementary school. Heard ran for the State Legislature in 1968 and was elected State Representative. In 1972, he was elected to the Oregon State Senate. He also was majority leader for three consecutive sessions in 1975, 1977, and 1979, and became

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...

in 1981. He resigned from the Senate in 1983 when he was appointed Director of Commerce in Governor

Victor Atiyeh Victor George Atiyeh (; February 20, 1923 – July 20, 2014) was an American politician who served as the 32nd governor of Oregon from 1979 to 1987. He was also the first elected governor of Middle Eastern descent and of Syrian descent in the U ...

's Cabinet. Heard was succeeded in the Senate by Judith Carnahan. Over the years Heard served as a

branch manager A branch manager is an executive who oversees a division or office of a large business or organization, operating locally or with a particular function. Their responsibility is to ensure that payments to employees are correct, their vacation pay arr ...

of Bernard Haldane Associates and was a member of both Menlo Park's and Salem's

Kiwanis Club Kiwanis International ( ) is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, and is found in more than 80 nations and geographic areas. In 1987, the organization ...

. In the diocese of El Camino Real, he served on the Commission for Ministry. Prior to seminary, he served as a Vestry member & Jr. Warden at St. Paul's in Salem. While at St. Thomas, Fr. Fred was President of the Board for the Compass Ministries on the Western Oregon University campus. In the Diocese of Oregon, he was Dean of the Willamette Convocation, a member of the Diocesan Recovery Commission, a member of the Diocesan Council, and a member of the board for Formation and Mission. He was also past President of the board of trustees for the School for Deacons in Berkeley at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific. During Covid he Co-facilitated a Zoom discussion on racism, and he provided online services for his St. Thomas' congregation while the church was closed.

Personal life and death

Heard was married to Adair for 57 years, and together they had a son Frederick, and twin daughters Heather and Robin. They had six grandsons and one granddaughter. He died on August 1, 2023, at the age of 82.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heard, Fred W. 1940 births 2023 deaths People from Prineville, Oregon University of Oregon alumni Southern Oregon University alumni Presidents of the Oregon State Senate Members of the Oregon House of Representatives Politicians from Klamath Falls, Oregon Schoolteachers from Oregon 20th-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly