In many ways, Jerome Heckenkamp lived an accelerated life.

He was born October 28, 1979 in Taree, NSW, Australia, where he lived his first three years before moving to the USA. He grew up in a suburban neighborhood in Wisconsin, climbing trees, exploring fields and forests, camping, fishing, bike riding, and playing with his three younger sisters, cousins, and friends. He spent many summers skateboarding and winters snowboarding.

From a young age, Jerome’s thirst to learn led him to excel in many endeavors—particularly math and computers—but also drawing, juggling, origami, Morse code, and Rubik’s Cube. An enthusiastic amateur magician, he volunteered his time to perform several magic shows for the Special Olympics. Jerome also served as an altar boy for many years and remained a devout Catholic all his life; he never wavered in defending his faith.

As an adult, one of his favorite authors was G. K. Chesterton. Some of his favorite childhood reads included The Hardy Boys, the William series by Richmal Crompton, and stories by Enid Blyton. He also enjoyed Archie comics, Impulse comics, and Superman comics—as well as attending the occasional comic convention. In his early teens, he had a pet mouse named Houdini that liked to periodically escape from its cage and explore the house.

A homeschooled student, Jerome completed high school early and began college at the University of Wisconsin Waukesha at age 14. At 16, he left for the University of Wisconsin Madison and graduated at 18 with a Bachelor of Science degree in both Mathematics and Computer Science. Two years later, he received a Masters Degree in Computer Science from UW Madison.

He lived for a time in New Mexico and then California, where he made many dear friends. He continued to work with computers, developing programs and software such as StoryCrawler and a popular RSVP system used in the film industry. Jerome was also very instrumental in online promotion of The Passion of The Christ. About this time, he traveled to Italy, where he visited many beautiful churches, including the Basilica of St. Peter’s in Rome. He also saw about one third of Italy by private helicopter.

Due to declining health, Jerome returned home to Wisconsin in early 2008, where he eventually became bedridden due to ankylosing spondylitis. Through those last trying years of his life, he exhibited incredible patience and hope. To the very end, he remained highly intelligent, fun-loving, witty, and compassionate.

Jerome was only 36 years old when he slipped away from this world on March 8, 2016.

He was laid to rest on March 16th in Calvary Cemetery, Milwaukee.

To those who truly knew him, to know him was to love him.

“Gone but not forgotten, although we are apart, God has you in His keeping, I have you in my heart.”