Peter Georg Heitmann

Peter Georg Heitmann was born on October 23, 1936, in Hanover, Germany. He was the oldest of three children of which he was the last survivor. His early childhood years were during WWII, and he was fortunate to have survived the bombing of his home during one of many attacks. After the war ended, he spent his time playing soccer, snow skiing and being the drummer in his band. Peter was also a master mechanic, having designed and built a replica car to represent the Porsche Spyder, the first of several cars he would build and restore throughout his life. When he was 22 years old, he packed up his life and moved to the United States, where he began a new career with Trans Island Motors in New York City. It was there where he would meet Mitzi, his wife of 64 years this coming May. One of his proudest accomplishments, aside from having two children, was becoming a U.S. citizen in 1963. Peter & Mitzi would relocate to Long Island, NY where he started his own Porsche, Volkswagen and BMW automobile repair shop. His quality of service was noted by the up-and-coming company, BMW, where he was honored with being one of the first dealerships on the east coast. After running his repair and dealership business for several years, Peter and Mitzi decided it was time for a new adventure, so they sold the shop, packed everything up and headed west. It was there where they purchased their forever home in Santa Barbara and began a new career in real estate. Peter was a very successful agent working with The Gallery of Homes, MacElhenny Levy and Fiesta Realty. In the early 1980’s, Peter transitioned from real estate sales into real estate appraisal, where he and Mitzi worked as a team, until he retired in 1998. Everyone who knew Peter always spotted him coming in his classic red 1961 Mercedes, of which he was very proud. When he wasn’t working, he could be found in his downstairs shop tinkering with his cars or doing some sort of home project. His retirement was on his terms, and he fully enjoyed the past 25 years. Peter & Mitzi loved to visit Las Vegas and he also loved trading in the stock market. His legacy lives on with many fond memories and he will be dearly missed. Peter is survived by his wife of 63 years, Mitzi; his daughter Yvonne & husband Peter; his son Mark and wife Kay; and his three grandchildren, Max, Zack & Kate.