By Perry Schaible
Enquirer contributor

MONTGOMERY - Judy Wall uses two words to describe her father; Kenneth Heffner - "the best."

Mr. Heffner, she says, was by nature a giving person who focused on his community since building one of the first homes on Pfeiffer Road in 1940.

Mr. Heffner died Monday at the Montgomery Care Center. He was 91.

"It's hard to reduce it to words," Wall said Thursday. "He was just very loving, humble, giving and unselfish."

Friends say Mr. Heffner's influence helped turn the small village of Montgomery into the bustling city of 10,163 that it is today.

He was a dedicated community leader for more than a half-century.

"He did so many things for the community without even asking - volunteering his time," said his friend Tom Eberhard, also a resident of Montgomery, who met Mr. Heffner in the early 1960s as a member of the Montgomery Kiwanis Club.

During the mid-1950s, Mr. Heffner served two terms on Montgomery's Village Council and later went on to serve on the first Zoning Board of Appeals. He spent 20 years as Montgomery's building inspector.

Mr. Heffner was a member of the second Charter Commission, which drafted Montgomery's city charter in 1971. He also served as a president of the Montgomery Businessmen's Club.

In October 1955, Mr. Heffner became a charter member of the Montgomery Kiwanis Club. He was named president in 1961 and was honored as Kiwanian of the Year in 1971 and Montgomery Citizen of the Year in 1980. In 2000, Mr. Heffner was awarded the George E. Hixon Fellow Award - the highest honor Kiwanians can bestow.

"He was the heart and soul of that club for over 30 years," Eberhard said.

Mr. Heffner's friends say his contributions surpassed his community service.

"He did so many things, not only for the village but for its people," Eberhard said.

Mr. Heffner also is survived by another daughter, Linda West; six grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. Mr. Heffner's wife, Virginia, died in 1981.

Visitation will be Saturday from 10 a.m. until the time of the funeral service at 11:30 a.m. at Nurre-Mihovk-Rosenacker Funeral Home, 10211 Plainfield Road.

Memorials can be directed to the Montgomery Kiwanis Club, P.O. Box 42080, Cincinnati, OH 45242.