Obituary of Anna Sabatello Heins

Anna Sabatello Heins of Chapel Hill, died on March 4, 2012 after a long fight against the ravages of atypical dementia. Anna was born in New York City in 1935, the fifth of six surviving children born to Alice and Joseph Sabatello, immigrants from Ireland and Italy. Anna married Bob Heins, also of New York City, in 1956. They raised four children, moving many times--from New York to California, Michigan, and even Texas--before settling in Chapel Hill. Anna was very active in community and professional theater in Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh and Dallas, Texas during the 1970s and 1980s. After her marriage ended in the early 1980s, Anna pursued a professional acting career in New York, maintaining homes in both Manhattan and Chapel Hill for many years. She returned to Chapel Hill for good in 2004. Anna was passionate about her children, grandchildren, and extended family. Though her eldest son Kurt, two brothers, and one sister pre-deceased her, she is survived by three children and all four children's families: Tom Heins of Doylestown, PA; Margie Heins of Alexandria,VA; Bill Heins of Chapel Hill and Kurt Heins' family, also of Chapel Hill. She is survived by eight much-loved grandchildren and two loving sisters, Alice Benben and Lorraine Pancella, both of New York. Her children and grandchildren will host an informal visitation and remembrance of Anna at Walker's Funeral Home in Chapel Hill on Friday, March 9th from 4:30-6:30pm.