UW-Madison student Truman Tiernan organized a memorial service and candle vigil Sunday for senior undergraduate student Michael Cooper Heinz, who passed away Nov. 23. Heinz, a strategic communication and philosophy major, was the former president of the Kappa Sigma fraternity on campus.
Heinz’s family and friends attended the memorial along with UW-Madison students and professors.
Tiernan, a close friend of Heinz, spoke about his relationship with him.
“One of the best things that’s ever happened to me was meeting Cooper about three years ago,” he said. “Although cliche, there’s an old adage about college that you will make memories that will last a lifetime. I can confidently say that for all of my memories, Coop was right there with me.”
Heinz had a love for the comedic arts, as was made evident in Tiernan’s stories about him.
“One time, Cooper literally put on an entire game show parody for the fraternity, with him taking on the role of host under the name of ‘Doopy Bumpersnicle,”’ Tiernan recalled. “Undoubtedly the funniest thing I have ever seen.”
Tiernan also talked about Heinz’s unique ability to do impersonations of others, reminiscing on his uncanny ability to reenact hundreds of scenes word-for-word from movies and TV shows, most memorably from “The Office” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philidelphia.”
Heinz was described by his peers as both intelligent and original.
“Cooper could correctly answer half the questions on Jeopardy day in and day out, and if that’s not a sign of a pure genius, I don’t know what is,” Tiernan said.
Aside from being a performer, a scholar and a leader, Heinz was also a friend.
“I looked up to him because I was impressed by him, and I sought his approval because I always saw his opinion as the most valuable in the room,” Tiernan said.
