Angela C. Heinzle

Former Rogue River resident, Angela “Angie” Heinzle, age 89, passed away Friday, November 19, 2021 in Grants Pass.

The oldest of four children, Angelina Cecilia Firpo was born in San Francisco, California to Louis J. Firpo and Josephine Dileo on February 13, 1932. Angie spent her early years growing up with her mother and three younger brothers in San Francisco. In 1937 the entire family joined 200,000 other San Franciscans to walk across the Golden Gate bridge on its opening day. By 1941 Angie had moved a little further south to live with her father and his new family in Daly City, California. She married one of the Heinzle boys next door, William F. Heinzle in 1947 and they had two sons and a daughter. They lived in Daly City for 15 years until William died at 34 in 1963. Later that year she married William’s brother, Joseph “Joe” Heinzle, and the family moved a little further south to Pacifica, California. By 1965 a new daughter had been added to the family.

In 1973 the family moved to Rogue River, Oregon where William and Joe’s parents had retired. For many years Joe and Angie would host an all-day open house during the annual Rogue River Rooster Crow event and friends and family would drop by for good food and cool drinks. Angie worked as a cook in several local restaurants in Rogue River and Grants Pass but seemed happiest at her job working in the Rogue River High School cafeteria.

In her retirement years Angie and Joe started an in-home business and glazed and fired ceramics in an old cabin on their property. They sold their wares under the name Log Cabin Ceramics. Over the years Angie won many awards for her china painting entries at the Josephine County Fair. In the early 2000’s she helped fund the opening of The Kitchen Company in downtown Grants Pass, Oregon and was a familiar face there for the first several years of operation, donating her time as needed.

Angie was always there to help for family and friends, always there to feed you, and if she really liked you ‘adopt’ you as part of the extended family. Among Angie’s favorite things were babies (anyone’s), organic gardening, cooking, ceramics, china painting, and camping, hunting and fishing with her husband. She loved the color royal blue. Some of her favorite sayings were: “just roll with it”, “you can freeze them”, “it’s not cheap, it’s reasonable” and this last one, said to husband Joe many, many times “there’s no such thing as a fast, safe driver.”

At the time of her passing, Angie was survived by her brothers Kenneth A. Ferreira, Louis L. Firpo and Leonard E. Firpo, son Roy L. Heinzle, daughter Ellen A. Heinzle, daughter Linda J. Heinzle, 4 grandchildren; Carrie, Jason, Will, and James; several great-grandchildren; and 1 great-great-grandchild.

Angie was preceded in death by her husbands, William Heinzle and Joseph Heinzle; her son William Heinzle Jr.; her mother and father; her sister Loretta K. Firpo and two brothers, Jerome S.D. Ferreira and Carl J. Firpo.