Donnie Heitler (1936-2018) | University of Illinois Archives

Name: Donnie Heitler (1936-2018)

Historical Note: Donnie Heitler was born in Pekin, IL in 1936. He began piano lessons as a young boy at a school for the blind in Jacksonville, IL, where he learned to read Braille music. After attending the University of Illinois and spending some time playing professionally in Arizona and New York, he settled in Champaign, where he continued to play local venues regularly until his death in 2018, at 81 years old.