A snowmobile crash has claimed the life of Justin Heyman, the longtime chairman of Morey’s Seafood International and partner for Chicago, Illinois-based private equity firm Acuity Capital Partners, LLC.
Heyman, 50, passed away on 13 February after getting separated from his snowmobile tour group and crashing into a ravine while traveling in Wyoming, the Chicago Tribune reported. The news of Heyman’s passing has left many family, friends and associates across industries in mourning, G.R. Kearney, a fellow partner at Acuity, told the Tribune.
“A lot of people are shocked, and profoundly saddened,” Kearney said. “He was a risk-taker in his professional life who lived life very much on his own terms, and was ceaselessly devoted to his three boys and was a truly amazing father.”
Born in South Africa, and raised on the East Coast of the United States, Heyman possessed keen insight into the importance of global sourcing, a trait that helped fuel his strategic work with the leadership team at Minnesota-based Morey’s Seafood International, according to National Fisheries Institute President John Connelly.
“[Heyman] recognized the importance of global sourcing,” Connelly wrote in a prepared statement. “The team he built, that is in place now, helped grow Morey’s from a profitable family-owned business in Minnesota to a staple of the seafood community nationwide with products in restaurants and retail outlets coast to coast.”
A father of three children, Heyman was known as a devoted parent and a fun-loving personality with an astute mind for business. While in his 20s during the late 1990s, Heyman orchestrated the buy-out of Morey’s, which has since undergone three successful acquisitions and has a strong product presence in major cities through the United States, including Chicago. The company, which was started back in 1937, specializes in frozen and smoked fish and seafood for both retail and foodservice.
“The team Justin put in place is the force behind the growth and expansion of Morey’s and that same leadership team plays key roles in the National Fisheries Institute (NFI). From the NFI Board of Directors to NFI’s Communications Committee and the Better Seafood Board, Morey’s has been a strong voice for promoting and protecting a positive seafood narrative. NFI appreciates Justin’s commitment and Morey’s continued commitment to the seafood community,” Connelly said.
Heyman is predeceased by his sister, Anne Heyman, a well-known New York philanthropist who passed away in 2014 following a horseback riding accident.
