Naples, Florida - Dr. Kenneth Bernard Heithoff was born on July 21, 1943, in Templeton, Iowa, to a family of farmers. He was the quarterback of a nine-man high school football team and a standout student in a small town. He was the first person in his family to go to college, made possible by a local priest, Reverend Richard Wey, who covered the additional living costs that Ken's scholarship to the College of St. Thomas could not. A full-ride to the University of Minnesota made him a physician, and additional training at UCLA and the NIH made him a radiologist.

Ken is remembered as one of the most visionary and impactful physicians of his generation. In 1981, Ken founded The Center for Diagnostic Imaging (CDI), the second outpatient imaging center in the world at the time, and one of the largest outpatient groups in the world today. Ken and CDI are credited with helping catalyze the "de-hospitalization of care" in America, a 50-year process of pulling healthcare out of the hospital that started with radiology and has since transformed how all medicine is delivered globally. Ken believed radiology should be practiced as close to the patient as possible. He believed technology (like CT, MRI, and PET) could make healthcare better and more accessible for everyone. He was hardheaded, maniacally focused, and demanding of his colleagues. He was a perfectionist, an honest man, and an unrelenting spirit. He changed healthcare for the better - and CDI has cared for over 50 million patients.

Ken was also an exceptional athlete, husband, father, grandfather, and patriot. He married the love of his life, Karen, as a freshman in college. They had their two children, Michelle and Mark, while he was in college and medical school. He was an accomplished Ironman triathlete, qualifying for the national championship in Hawaii, and continued competing for years as a grandfather. He blew his hips out training, got them replaced, and kept training. He had a major stroke in his late 60s, stayed up all night repeating the names of his children and grandchildren, and willed his way to recovery — by the next morning. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's and kept fishing, hunting, and golfing with those he loved until the last months of his life.

Ken was indefatigable and deeply unreasonable; he never learned how or when to quit. He was proud to be an American and departs as one of the rare, honest illustrations of the national dream he believed in so deeply: he came from nothing, risked everything, beat the odds (often), cared for many, and left the world better than he found it.

Dr. Heithoff died on May 5, 2026 in Naples, Florida, at home, beside his wife and partner of 61 years.

Please join our family to celebrate Ken's life on his birthday, July 21st, in Minnesota.