Illinois Valley Times

Saint Bede Academy in Peru, Illinois, is seeking funds to build a track-and-field facility in memory of record-breaking alumnus and fallen Marine Capt. Thomas John Heitmann.

Heitmann was a track star as a student at Saint Bede Academy, despite the school not having a track-and-field facility on its 1,000-acre grounds for training. Student track-and-field athletes must practice on the asphalt parking lot and inside the 125-year-old school building.

Despite the lack of a track facility, Heitmann developed into a star runner, winning two Illinois state medals. He still holds two of the school’s track-and-field records.

Marine Capt. Thomas John Heitmann | Contributed photo

After high school, he attended Valley Forge Military College and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University before joining the U.S. Marine Corps to become a pilot. Because Heitmann attributed much of his success in college and in the Marine Corps to his experience in track, he wanted to give back to the school by getting a track facility built to benefit student athletes and the community.

In 2010, Heitmann reached out to his former track coach about starting a fundraising campaign to build a track facility at Saint Bede. Tragically, in 2011, Heitmann, 27, died while serving his country during a helicopter training mission at Marine Corps Air Station at Camp Pendleton in Southern California while preparing for combat in Afghanistan. Heitmann and another pilot were killed.

Saint Bede is seeking to honor Heitmann by raising the necessary funds to build a memorial track on campus. Saint Bede is partnering with the Heitmann family, who have created a memorial fundraising website.  

The construction cost of a new track facility is estimated at $600,000, including the track, equipment, fencing and bleachers.

“We have received about $100,000 in fundraising,” Julia Yaklich, administrative development director at St. Bede Academy, told Legal Newsline. “Saint Bede’s contribution to the project is $250,000, based on the land. The remaining balance to make the project come to fruition is another $250,000.”

Yaklich said the school has access to another track-and-field facility at another school, but hasn’t done so yet.

“The other school’s athletes would be training as well, plus it would really put our practices so late in the evening that it wouldn’t help our kids academically,” she said.

On Oct. 24, Saint Bede Abbot Philip Davey and Thomas’ sister, Rachel Heitmann-Christensen, a 2014 Saint Bede graduate, appeared for an interview with CBS News 8 in San Diego, which Yaklich said has led to several military-based donations.

“We are ready to build the track now,” Davey said during the CBS interview. “Though his life and military career were cut short, his dream doesn’t have to be.”

Yaklich said the school is trying to increase awareness of Heitmann’s dream of getting a track-and-field facility built at Saint Bede Academy.

“I think everybody would love to see it come together, especially in our area,” Yaklich said. “It would not just be for our student athletes, but it would also honor a fallen soldier.”