LOUISBURG, NC -- Heidi Nolting Sturges was born in Smith Falls, Ontario, Canada on December 6th, 1958 and died at home in Louisburg, North Carolina on May 19th, 2025. She was with her husband and her sisters.

Heidi was a "PK," a Preacher's Kid, and moved thirteen times before the age of eighteen. She always considered HOME to be wherever she and her husband lived. That was HOME.

Her father the Reverend Gerald Nolting was from Hereford, Germany and her mother Jean Kelly Nolting was from Clitheroe, England.

Heidi attended Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia and then moved to New York City where she started working in the film industry making television commercials. She excelled in the film business and quickly rose to the position of Producer. At the age of twenty three Heidi and a Director started their own production company based in London and New York. Heidi worked all over the world producing high end commercials for companies like Mercedes, Audi, Ford, Coca-Cola and Budweiser. In 1995 they relocated the company to Los Angeles, California.

There she met her husband, Richard Sturges, on the set of a Budweiser commercial that was filmed on a retired aircraft carrier in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Heidi had a brilliant smile that would light up any room she entered and the ability to get along and converse with everyone she met.

She was once stuck in a small elevator at the Chateau Marmont hotel in Hollywood with Oscar winning actor Peter O'Toole. They each were carrying a brown grocery bag. The two emptied their bags on the elevator floor and had an elevator picnic. They dined on wine , cheese, bread and pate de foie gras. They had a grand time and after the fire department rescued them they took the festivities to the hotel lounge and the party grew.

She married Richard Sturges and lived in Los Angeles until she retired. Heidi loved her family more than the Bright Lights of Hollywood.

She and her husband always went home to New York and North Carolina to spend Christmas with their families. Watching their nieces come down for Santa under tree was a highlight of their year.

After she retired Heidi and Richard moved to New York City to help take care of Heidi's mother. They then moved to Louisburg to be with her husband's family in 2018.

Since Heidi's death so many people have reached out to her husband to express their condolences and to let him know how Heidi had mentored them and taught them the film business. She loved helping those trying to make it in a difficult business.

Heidi is survived by her husband Richard Sturges, her sisters Victoria and Thomas Bennett, Sally Nolting, Wendy and Scott Cozzens and her seven nieces.

The funeral service will be at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 301 North Church Street, Louisburg, N.C., at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 14, 2025.

Funeral arrangements are by Lancaster funeral home, Flowers by Henry and St. Paul's Episcopal Church or the charity of your choice.

Paid obituary