Obituary: Heather LeAnne Alhadeff

Heather LeAnne Alhadeff passed away on May 28, after a courageous battle with leukemia. Survivors include husband, Miguel Christie, and son, Aquiles, mother, Jean Alhadeff (Efrom Prater), father, Steve Alhadeff (Kathie), sister, Naomi Alhadeff (Ryan), brother, Noah Alhadeff (BatEl), sister, Marlene (Jamie) Green, sister, Lisa Jacobson, many nieces and nephews, cousins and hundreds of friends.

A native of Atlanta, Heather received her undergraduate degree from Georgia State and a master’s degree from Georgia Tech. At MARTA, she served as the Assistant General Manager of Planning for four years.

She was an accomplished transportation planner and recognized expert in land use planning, transportation engineering and urban design. She had deep public sector experience, including past roles as the City of Atlanta’s Director of Transportation Planning, Central Atlanta Progress’ Director of Transportation Management, Senior Planner at the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Federal Highway Administration.

She directed the creation and adoption of the Connect Atlanta Plan, Downtown Parking Plan and worked on the Atlanta StreetCar, Regional On-Board Transit Survey, Columbus Public Involvement Plan, Multimodal Passenger Terminal, Express Bus Routing and Soccer in the Streets.

She was the recipient of numerous awards, including the PEDS Golden Shoe Award, Atlanta Bicycle Coalition Best Planning Initiative of the Year (2008), Atlanta Business Chronicle’s 40 under 40 (2007), AIA Atlanta- Kwanza Hall Honor Award (2018) and was a founding member of the Atlanta United Soccer.

Heather had a congenial smile, a passionate spirit for her family, Atlanta and soccer. She was loved by all who knew her. Graveside services were held 2:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 31, at Greenwood Cemetery, with Rabbi Josh Hearshen officiating.

In lieu of flowers, a GoFundMe site is being set up to purchase a bench in Heather’s memory on the Atlanta Beltline. Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.