Former chief airports project inspector remembered for his kindness, pride for his work
Nancy Hietbrink was waiting for a girlfriend outside a packed Henderson restaurant during a rainy day nearly 20 years ago when she caught her future husband’s eye.
“He saw me from the bar and came outside and said, what are you doing?’”
Richard Hietbrink promptly invited her to have a drink inside, she told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“What kind of pickup line is that?” she recalled thinking.
Nancy Hietbrink’s friend didn’t show, she said, making the first encounter with Richard a date.
They couple was together until the 67-year-old died July 22.
“He was a big man with a big personality, willing to help anyone at any time with no regard for himself,” she said in a recent interview. “He just did it, and he prided himself in being that way.”
Richard Hietbrink had recently retired as supervising construction management inspector for the Clark County Department of Aviation, which administers five airports in the Las Vegas Valley.
“We are saddened by the passing of Richard Hietbrink,” the department said in a statement. “For 18 years, Richard was a dedicated member of our Design &Construction team, leaving his mark on nearly every major airport project, most notably the D Gates Wing expansion and opening of Terminal 3. His contributions, humor, and spirit will be deeply missed.”
Pride in his work
He would start work as early as 2:30 a.m., and colleagues knew he’d been in the office if they spotted his spilled coffee, which had dribbled to the floor from an elevator to his chair, Lainey Gafford told the Review-Journal.
Gafford would tease him about his “coffee habits,” and he in turn would pick on her Texas drawl when she said “y’all,” the retired assistant project manager added.
“We just instantly became real good friends,” she said. “He just knew everybody and everybody knew him.”
Hietbrink once told her that “he wanted the airport to be like his home,” she said. “He wanted everything to be perfect; to see a very nice place.”
As chief inspector for major projects, he was tasked with overseeing construction projects at the county’s airports and made sure contractors adhered to contractual obligations.
According to his résumé, Hietbrink was “responsible for ensuring work meets schedule, safety and quality requirements during the progress of each project.”
“He knew his stuff and every nook and cranny at the airport,” Gafford said.
Nancy Hietbrink said he loved his job and cherished and respected his coworkers.
“Airports always intrigued him,” she said. “He loved the plane atmosphere, the tarmac and travel. He liked being a boss.”
Nancy Hietbrink said cancer forced his retirement in December.
“He would’ve never stopped working if he wasn’t sick,” she added.
Before his stint at the airports, he worked for several companies, including M.J. Dean Construction and Bechtel Infrastructure, according to his résumé.
Lifelong local
Richard Hietbrink was born and raised in Henderson.
An all-conference student athlete who graduated from Basic High School, he turned down a scholarship to play college soccer and instead enrolled in carpenter’s school, said Dianna Lynn Wilcox, his only sibling.
The sister is married to his lifelong best friend, Earl Wilcox.
Brother and sister saw each other often and talked every day, she said.
“It’s really hard not being able to see him and not get his phone calls anymore,” she said.
Richard Hietbrink deeply believed and liked to say “carpe diem,” to live in the moment.
In his free time, he liked to play golf, including the disc variety. He also enjoyed fishing, camping and hiking, said Nancy Hietbrink, whom he would take on weekly dates.
He loved to build things at home and was known to organize spontaneous trips with as little as 30 minutes’ notice, she said.
‘We’ll never be alone’
Nancy Hietbrink recalled their second date, when he showed up in a suit and bearing a big box of chocolates, a teddy bear and her earring, which she had lost when they hugged goodbye the day they met.
“I was pretty much hooked in that minute,” she said.
They dated for two years before he proposed marriage, mixing their families.
“I said to him, between us we have two houses, five dogs, eight children. What are we going to do with that?” she asked. They also shared 13 grandchildren.
“We’ll never be alone,” he replied.
Hietbrink is also survived by his sons Ryan, Rustin, Ricky and Rhett Hietbrink, and daughters Renee Miller and Rachael Govenor. Their mothers are Sandy Christenson and Ruth Wilkins. His stepchildren — Nancy Hietbrink’s sons — are Thomas and Michael Scavuzzo.
A celebration of Richard Hietbrink’s life is slated for 5 p.m. Oct. 27 at Henderson Executive Airport, according to his family.
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
