OMAHA -- From the day he was born above a South Omaha funeral home in 1929, Tom Heafey seemed destined to lead his family’s mortuary business into its second century of serving families.
After taking over the mortuary that was founded by his grandfather and great-uncle in the 1880s, Heafey had a lifelong career as a mortuary owner and funeral director.
He died Feb. 10 at 93 years old. Heafey-Hoffmann-Dworak-Cutler Mortuaries recently celebrated its 135th anniversary, and while the Heafeys’ business has merged with other funeral homes over the years, it remains family owned.
The Heafey Mortuary initially occupied a series of buildings in downtown and central Omaha. As west Omaha began to grow, Tom Heafey and his business partners decided to move the mortuary to its current location at 78th Street and West Center Road in 1980.
That building was destroyed in a 2016 fire, but a larger state-of-the-art facility was built in its place in 2017.
Tom Heafey’s son, Morgan Heafey, said he isn’t sure his father’s predecessors could have imagined the business as it exists today.
“My dad took it to another level,†he said. “They probably couldn’t have conceived how big that mortuary would become back in that day.â€
Tom Heafey was a graduate of Creighton Prep and went on to graduate from Creighton University in 1951. Besides a short stint in the military and his time at mortuary school in San Francisco, he spent his entire adult life directing funerals, Morgan Heafey said.
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Anybody in the business would describe Tom Heafey as an all-star funeral director, his son said.
“He was a great people man, he met and mixed with people everyday under trying circumstances,†he said. “He built a business on those kind of relationships with people.â€
Outside of his work, Tom Heafey was just an extremely nice person, Morgan Heafey said. His father always had a smile on his face and a joke to tell.
“He used his humor to make everyone feel comfortable and welcome, which was one of his greatest gifts,†his family wrote in his obituary.
He was a family man and had four children with his late wife, Joan, Morgan Heafey said. He went to church every week and also enjoyed betting on horses at the former Ak-Sar-Ben racing track.
Tom and Joan were Notre Dame fans and would often make trips to watch the Fighting Irish play, according to his obituary. The couple also enjoyed traveling late in life, including trips to the East Coast, Europe and Asia.
“I think everybody will remember him as a great guy,†Morgan Heafey said. “He helped all of these families out and he was just the guy that was there for you.â€