Heidemarie (Heide) Dorothy Lennick, age 65, died on Wednesday, September 18, 2024. She passed away peacefully in her sleep from natural causes, inside her Phoenix, Arizona home.

Her father, Richard Paul Mellmann, was born in New York in 1920, became a World War II US Army veteran, and passed away in 1980. Her mother, Margot K. Mellmann (Wagner), was born in Germany in 1926 and passed away in 1968. Heide was also preceded in death by her brother Rudy.

Heide was born in Phoenix, where she lived with her parents and siblings until her mother passed away when she was only eight years old. She then lived in New Jersey for several years in the home of an extended family member. Heide returned to Phoenix around the age of 14 years old and was placed in foster care until she became a legal adult. She was married twice, with both marriages ending in divorce, but she had five children whom she loved dearly from those marriages.

Around the age of 49, Heide became a school bus driver and was beloved by her students and coworkers.  Over the course of her approximately 16-year career, she worked for two different Phoenix-area school districts and was very involved in several of the schools.

Heide is survived by her two daughters, Kristina and Ketura; three sons, Kermit, Kendal, and Kalieb; three grandchildren; and sister Claudia.

Heide was laid to rest next to her parents at Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery in Phoenix. She will be greatly missed by her coworkers, students, and family.