It’s not easy catching up with Heiko Wirtz for an interview. One of the busiest and most in-demand people at Sunburst, Heiko is the Guy Who Does Everything. Have a broken water pipe? Call Heiko. Your horse just ran away? Call Heiko. The Internet is down? Call Heiko. Need some hay baled by next Tuesday? You get the picture.
Heiko Wirtz
I remember when I first came to Sunburst about a year ago, and got to work with Heiko on installing some sprinklers in the gardens around the Lodge. Over the course of those first days, I was amazed at how much work this man gets done and how many requests for help he fields in an average day. I asked him, “Is there anything you don’t do around here?” His response? “Um, nope.” And he handles it all with good humor and a sense of ease.
So I was pleased when I finally got Heiko to sit down in my living room (in the chair he loaned us) for a talk. Like everything he does, though, Heiko dedicated himself fully to the task at hand and gave me tons of information—about Sunburst history, about his life here, and about his vision for the future of this community.
Heiko came to Sunburst from Germany with his mom and his older brother Claas in 1982 as a nine year old. Sibylle had had a spiritual awakening a few years prior, causing huge life changes that led her to move herself and her boys to Sunburst. But unbeknownst to her and at about the same time as his mother, Heiko had received a message while on a visit to a Catholic chapel. He recalls, “I felt immense energy come over me [and suddenly realized] that I wanted to give my life to God.”
Not knowing any English on his arrival in the United States, Heiko nevertheless made friends quickly with the other children who lived at Sunburst. Among the adults, he felt particularly drawn to Norman Paulsen, the founder of Sunburst, and slowly came to regard him as a father figure and mentor. He would watch Norm lift weights and they often did outdoor work together on the property.
As Heiko and his friends grew into young adults, many of the kids he had grown up with began to leave the community, which at that point was located in Salt Lake City, Utah and Oasis, Nevada. Disturbed and saddened by the thought that Sunburst might be weakened or not even survive this trend, Heiko asked Norm what he could do to help. Norm asked if Heiko would be interested in working on the restoration of the Star Pilot, an old double-masted schooner that Norm (a passionate sailor) had recently reacquired. He eagerly accepted.
So in 1992, Heiko and Ross Gordon, another Sunburst resident, traveled to the ship’s home port at the time in Gloucester, Massachusetts and prepared her for the long voyage back to California. After the ship’s arrival in May 1993 in San Diego, they began the arduous task of refurbishing the craft as they lived aboard it. Heiko remembers, “Norm called every morning and asked ‘What are your plans?,’” knowing that the recent high school grad had a tendency to sleep in. Rousted from his bed early on a daily basis, Heiko gradually developed a routine and the discipline it took to help restore the schooner. As engineering assistant, he refurbished the entire engine and also served as the purser, doing the bookkeeping and distributing pay.
- Heiko Wirtz creating new garden beds
Meanwhile, Norm had found a property to call home on California’s Central Coast, near his birthplace. Once the Star Pilot had been moved to San Diego Harbor in 1993, Norm would occasionally go down to stay with Heiko and Ross to check on their progress and help out. It was during these visits that Heiko formed a close bond with Norm.
In November 1993, while on a visit to the farm where Norm lived, Nojoqui Farms(pronounced “NAH-ho-ee”), Heiko went for a horseback ride with Norm’s wife Patty in the rolling hills above the farm. Heiko and Patty gazed out over the valley arrayed before them, the spectacular Las Cruces Ranch. Inspired by the land’s beauty and energy, he told Patty, “Wouldn’t it be great to live on a ranch like this someday?” It took some time for that dream to come true, but three years later, property in that direction became available for Sunburst.
Heiko and the crew finished renovating the Star Pilot in 1997, and the community sold it to finance the construction of a magnificent lodge on the new ranch property. The log structure now welcomes guests and residents alike, providing a wonderful gathering place for meditation and family meals. After moving back to Nojoqui Farms when the ship was sold, Heiko was instrumental in landscaping the new grounds and helping Norm tend the ranch’s small new cattle herd.
When asked what Sunburst means to him, Heiko’s very clear that through his energy, dedication, love, and service, he wants to give Sunburst continuing strength and relevance, and to provide a modern take on what it looks like to live in community. Heiko believes that Sunburst has “moved into a higher gear” now, after a period of inward searching and growth, as it actively seeks new experiences and more interaction with our surrounding communities.
As a member of Sunburst, his spiritual goals are the ones Norm instilled in Heiko as a child and young man: to meet God “face to face” through meditation, stewardship of the land, service to others, and practice of the Twelve Virtues as outlined in the Sunburst teachings. He understands and appreciates the world religions through these teachings, seeing the seeds of truth that are common to all of them, while finding that a direct experience of the divine is possible through the practice of Kriya Yoga as taught by Norm and Norm’s teacher, Paramahansa Yogananda.
Daily life for Heiko usually begins with meditation at 6:30 AM with other Sunburst residents, and then around 9 AM he begins his work as groundskeeper and a member of the ranch’s maintenance team. His wide-ranging duties include corral construction and other fencing projects, creating and maintaining the beautiful landscaping around the Lodge, caring for the 200-head cow and calf operation and seven ranch horses, and generally supporting the 2,000-acre ranch’s infrastructure.
Although he’s often pretty tired by the end of the day after working on the ranch, Heiko sometimes catches a second wind to enjoy our nearby beaches with friends. Another favorite pastime is sailing out to the Channel Islands. Heiko is a dedicated martial artist, studying Hapkido with another Sunburst resident, Dan Posney. His spinning-down sweep kick is inspiring.
A man with a great sense of humor who’s terrific with adults and kids alike, Heiko’s known around Sunburst as the Pied Piper. His energy, caring nature, and open heart leave a lasting impression on all our guests, and he’s a wonderful brother to all the people who live here as well.
Photo credits: Kara Block at OmImagery
