Feb
13
Bob Hegney was one of my outside sales reps when I first entered the bike industry as an inside sales rep. As the new guy, I was intimidated by this industry legend who had been serving the New York metro area for decades for such big lines as Shimano. He was a New Yorker in every sense: he was blunt, he talked fast, was funny and he drove a hard bargain. Now, having been born in The City myself, I mean that description as a compliment. Bob was a real contrast to the reps from the more, shall we say, relaxed regions of the country like Southern California or Colorado. Last week while at the Bicycle Leadership Conference, I learned that Bob had died of a heart attack on Feb. 3rd. A bunch of the attendees of the conference left a little early to attend his services.
As busy a guy as Bob was, he always had time to come by my booth at Interbike to say hi. He was never short of jokes. One year, he gave me his business card and it was in the baseball card style you see in the image above. I think that the card really shows that he had his priorities in line since it emphasized the importance that he placed on his work as a volunteer fireman. The back had all of the contact info for his sales rep gig, but showed his pride for his “real” job helping others in their times of need. I love his quote at the bottom of the back of the card:
“Busting mine to save yours.”
Mr. Hegney was 53 when he died. He was a sales rep in the bike industry for 30 years and joined the fire department in 1973. You can read more about him here.
According to his fire company’s website, in lieu of flowers, Memorial Contributions may be made to the Se-Wy-Co Fire Company, care of the Heintzelman Funeral Home. Check out their tribute page for him - there are some kind words there about him from other industry members. Bob was a good guy and will be missed.
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The dude’s a hero. RIP.