Joliet man remembered for kindness and humor

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Kenneth Von Heidecke.

Updated: March 21, 2012 8:06AM

Kenneth Von Heidecke of Naperville, founder and director of the Chicago Festival Ballet, recalls Timothy Cremeens’ first opening night performance in a grand ballroom.

Awed by the limousine, red carpet and huge crowds, Cremeens literally stopped short while ascending the main staircase to rolling drums and trumpets to blurt out, “Wow, who’s that for?”

“I burst out laughing,” Von Heidecke said, “and then said under my breath, ‘For me. Look straight ahead.’”

Two decades of international travel as Von Heidecke’s business manager never altered Cremeen’s hallmark: genuine kindness.

Until his death Dec. 15 at age 53, Cremeens treated everyone, from the ushers at the Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet to Placido Domingo, with equal consideration and respect.

“Tim had no pretense and he never judged,” said Cremeens’ sister, Maureen Himmelman of Joliet. “There was not a person he did not like, and I never met anyone who did not like Tim.”

Cremeens, the youngest of eight children in a close family, grew up on a Wilmington farm before moving to Joliet. Cremeens’ father, Clarence, had been principal at Troy Craughwell Elementary School in Shorewood and his mother Helen taught for Joliet Grade School District. In his parents’ later years, Cremeens built a handicapped-accessible home to share with them.

“He was their primary caretaker,” Himmelman said. “With all the traveling he did, Tim loved his home and his family. He always said, ‘Mom is my best buddy.’”

When Von Heidecke met Cremeens, a former business manager for a grocery store chain, Cremeens was vice president for a publishing company. After it closed, Von Heidecke hired Cremeens, despite his slim experience with classical arts.

“He attended so many dress rehearsals and premieres, that he grew to love it,” Von Heidecke said. “We’d listen to classical music in the car and he could identify the different ballets.”

Cremeens’ fine organizational skills were indispensible for overseas performances, so Von Heidecke trained a second person to manage the school when Cremeens was gone.

“He got along with all the dancers, the students and their parents. He had such a wonderful personality,” Von Heidecke said. “The way he could make you smile and laugh was really just fantastic.”

Askar Alimbetov of Naperville, one of Von Heidecke’s dancers, met Cremeens in 2007.

“Everyone liked Tim, even people who had just met him,” Alimbetov said. You never got tired of being around him.”

Contact Denise M. Baran-Unland at 815-467-5249 or artemis279@aol.com.