Jeanne Heintz, Bruce Springsteen superfan, dies at 95

[Martok]

A pretty cool story. 


https://www.twincities.com/2020/02/29/jeanne-heintz-bruce-springsteen-superfan-obituary/

Bruce Springsteen superfan Jeanne Heintz was hoping for one more dance with the Boss, but her daughter said she'd have to settle for dancing in heaven.

Jeanne died Friday, Feb. 28, at St. Joseph's Hospital after a two-year battle with Alzheimer's disease.

"Besides her family and her grandkids, her second life was traveling around the country, going to Bruce Springsteen concerts," said Jackie Heintz, the youngest of Jeanne's four children.

Jeanne's third and last on-stage dance with "The Boss" was at the Xcel Energy Center when he called her up for a short whirl to "Dancing in the Dark" on Feb. 29, 2016.

"We had a ball. It was beautiful," Jeanne told a Pioneer Press reporter at the time. "I was thrilled to death. Every time I went up there I was thrilled to death."


LAST OF A GREATEST GENERATION

Jeanne, whose nicknames were Beanie, Mean Jeanne and Hurricane Jeanne, was born in St. Paul on Nov. 8, 1924, to Ora and Gregory McGuiggan. She was one of 11 children — 10 girls and one boy. She grew up in the West Seventh neighborhood.

"She was the last matriarch of our family's Greatest Generation," Jackie said. "Mom outlived them all."

Jeanne married Frank Heintz in 1944. They had four children — Frank Jr., Pat, Greg and Jackie. Frank Sr. died in 1997, having been married to Jeanne for 53 years.

Mostly a stay-at-home mom, Jeanne also helped out at her family's farm in Battle Creek and was a part-time waitress at Phil's Place, a restaurant on Randolph Avenue in St. Paul, for 20 years.

At age 65 she went back to school to become a trained medication aide and at 80 worked in the dining room of Little Sisters of the Poor on Exchange Street.

"She didn't want to retire," Jackie said. "She was a go-getter."


SPRINGSTEEN FAN FOR FOUR DECADES

Jeanne began listening to Bruce Springsteen in 1978 after Jackie purchased his album "Darkness on the Edge of Town."

"I would come home from school and my mom would be playing records on the RCA record player," Jackie said. "She would be dancing in the living room. My dad would yell at me, thinking I was the one playing the music. I'd say, 'No, Dad, it's not me. It's Mom.' "

Jeanne attended more than 300 Springsteen concerts. She followed him all over the U.S. but never went overseas because she was afraid of flying over water.
Steven Van Zandt, the famed member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, poses with longtime Springsteen fan Jeanne Heintz at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Monday, Feb. 29, 2016. Springsteen played at the X that night, and Heintz appeared briefly on stage with him. Photo courtesy of Jacqueline Heintz.

She and her daughter would fly in just for the concerts, often sleeping in the airport instead of getting a hotel.

Jeanne would get to the concert early so she could stand outside and listen to the soundcheck and greet the E Street Band, whose members called her "Mama." She formed a close friendship with Clarence Clemons, the saxophone player. When he died in 2011, Jeanne was invited to his funeral.

"She was devastated by the loss," Jackie said.

Jeanne also got to know Springsteen's mother, Adele, who found it touching that someone the same age as she was a superfan of her son, Jackie said.


DANCING IN THE DARK

Springsteen first invited Jeanne up to dance Sept. 20, 2009, in Des Moines, Iowa. She made a sign to get his attention that said, "Bruce, I drove all night to dance with you," which mimicked a line from Springsteen's song "Drive All Night": "I swear I'll drive all night just to buy you some shoes."

Two months later, she celebrated her 84th birthday at a Springsteen concert in Madison Square Garden.

She got to dance twice more at the X, in 2012 and in 2016 at age 91.

When asked in 2016 how she found the stamina to make it through a three-hour concert, she said, "I could make it through (anything with Springsteen)," she said. "It could have lasted forever."

The wake will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday, March 9, at Mueller Memorial Funeral Home, 835 Johnson Parkway, St. Paul.

A Mass of Christian burial will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 10, at Transfiguration Catholic Church, 6123 15th Street N., Oakdale, with a visitation at the church from 9 to 10 a.m. Luncheon to follow.

"Everyone is encouraged to wear pink, black or their Springsteen concert shirts," Jackie said.

Burial will be at Fort Snelling.