Inman Park residents who knew Sandra Heartfield understood there was always a good time at her house.
“She had a zest for living,” said friend Cliff Graubart. “She liked to party and she loved to dance. Her house was like a headquarters for events in the neighborhood.”
Not only was Heartfield known for her parties and her welcoming spirit, but her activism in the neighborhood too, said Harlon Joye, her husband of more than 27 years.
“She was always caught up in community things,” he said. “She ran a silent auction for the radio station WRFG and for 17 years she kept it going, turning it into what some people said was the best Christmas party in the city. She stayed busy.”
Sandra Kay Heartfield, of Atlanta, died Feb. 8 from complications of cancer. She was 70. Her body was cremated by SouthCare Cremation and Funeral Society, Marietta. A memorial service is planned for 7:30 p.m. Saturday at her home in Inman Park.
Heartfield’s home functioned as a bed and breakfast for more than 20 years, Joye said, though over the past few years as his wife’s health has declined they “did more bed than breakfast,” favoring long-term boarders. Heartfield Manor B&B opened in 1988 on the advice of one of Heartfield’s friends, Joye said. And the business venture suited her personality, Graubart added.
Before she became a community activist and entrepreneur, Heartfield did clerical work and was a stenographer for several attorneys. She also worked for the Coca-Cola Co., friends and family said. A native of Texas, Bryan born and Beaumont raised, Heartfield came to Atlanta in 1966, with a former husband, a few years after she graduated from high school. Once in Atlanta, she immediately became active in community affairs, working with B.O.N.D. (Bass Organization for Neighborhood Development) and the Inman Park Restoration, Inc.
Other groups, organizations and causes she championed over the years include the Inman Park Neighborhood Planning Unit, the Little Five Points Community Center and The Broken Wall.
“The sense of loss in the neighborhood is deep, because she made everyone feel special,” said Anna Foote, who grew up in the neighborhood. “She had so much love and affection for life, and people.”
Heartfield’s illness lasted for more than a decade, but she never stopped living her life as best she could.
“She loved to dance. She wouldn’t go out with you if you couldn’t, or wouldn’t, dance,” Joye said of his wife. “But when her legs got too weak to dance, she danced with her hands and her body. She wouldn’t quit. She was a force of nature.”
In addition to her husband, Heartfield is survived by sons, James McMillan of Houston, Texas, Eric Kornder of Atlanta and Kevin Kornder of Decatur; and four grandchildren.
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