PAUL J. "PETE" HEGENER Community Leader

Paul Joseph Hegener, known to his friends and family as "Pete," died March 23, 2012, in his Vero Beach home. He was 71 years old.
Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September 18, 1940, to parents Joseph L. and Marjorie Hegener, Pete moved to Pacific Palisades, California when he was six. Pete graduated from Loyola/ Marymount University with a B.A. and the University of Southern California with an M.B.A. He started his long career in real estate in Los Angeles, later expanding to Florida.
Pete was well known throughout Florida and particularly in St. Lucie County where he was the former President of Core Communities for 16 years. Under Pete's creative leadership Core operated and completed the St. Lucie West Master Planned Communityhome to the northern campus of Florida Atlantic University, Indian River State College, the New York Mets Spring Training Facility (Tradition Field), and over 200 businesses employing more than 7,000 people. Pete's was the primary vision behind the development of Tradition, an 8,000-acre Master Planned Community just south of St. Lucie West. Tradition will eventually be home to 18,000 residences, several schools, more than 9 million square feet of mixed use space, and is the hub of significant job creation in the county. Pete's dream of an integrated community where one can live, work, learn, shop, and play is a hallmark of Tradition. As a former Director of Enterprise Florida, the state's Economic Development arm, and Director of the St. Lucie County Economic Development Council, Pete worked diligently in the community to create a cluster of enterprises involved in biotechnology and innovation, as well as new schools and a hospital. Pete served on the Advisory Board for Florida Atlantic University and on the Board of Trustees for Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies.
Pete is survived by his wife, Denise Hegener; two sisters, Susie Parrish of Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia, and Mary Jo Bernard of Salida, Colorado; three children, Katrina Greer, of Oxford, Maryland, Paul J. "Joe" Hegener, Jr., of San Diego, California, and Kristin Link, of Bethesda, Maryland; and two step-children, Jeff Mackey, of Longwood, Florida, and Kim Mackey, of Altamonte Springs, Florida. Pete was also the proud grandfather of eleven.
A Catholic mass will be held Saturday, March 31st, 2012, 12:30pm at Holy Cross Church, 500 Iris Lane, Vero Beach, Florida
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to VNA & Hospice Foundation 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32960 (VNATC.COM) 772 978 5531 or the Martin Health Foundation, PO Box 9010, Stuart, FL 34995, www.GIVEmhf.org.

Arranngements are under the direction of Cox-Gifford-Seawinds Funeral Home & Crematory in Vero Beach. Online condolences may be sent through www.coxgiffordseawinds.com.