About our founders

Denise Elaine Heap and Joyce Light Heap co-founded Center for White Rose Studies in January 2005. Both had researched White Rose resistance since July 1994, including a 3-1/2 month trip to Germany in 1995, interviewing friends and families, working in archives; a weekend in 1998 tracing the path of the graffiti operation; a follow-up three week trip in 2002; a one week trip to visit Munich-area families in 2007, followed by a week in Orenburg, Russia; and (for Denise) two more Munich trips in 2016 and 2019.

Denise Elaine Heap - Background

  • 1977: Math-German double major, with minor in education, TCU, Fort Worth, Texas.
  • 1977-1978: Fulbright-Hays Fellow, Augsburg, Political Humor as Informed Dissent, studying with Albrecht Weber and Ernst Krzywon.
  • 1982-2025: Member of German-American Chamber of Commerce in one capacity or another since 1982. Currently a corporate member and bronze sponsor of the 2025 Spargelfest in honor of Erich and Hertha Schmorell.
  • 1989-1997: Founder-owner of Translations Verbatim in 1989, and translator of record for the German Treuhandanstalt in the USA (37 prospectuses).
  • 1999: Co-founder of DEHeap Enterprises, Inc., October 1999.
  • 1999-2002: Weekly columnist for America Online's Jewish Community Online. Collection of JComm essays available here.
  • 1999-2014: Speaker at various synagogues and high schools.
  • 2000: Co-founder of Exclamation! Publishers, January 2000.
  • 2000: Speaker and presenter at Fulbright Conference, Washington, DC, panelist for Future of the Fulbright, December 2000.
  • 2002-2007: Began “six month” project on White Rose in July 1994. White Rose History, Volume I (January 1933 – April 30, 1942) published in 2002, with 2003 and 2007 updates. White Rose History, Volume II (May 1, 1942-October 12, 1943) published 2003, with 2007 updates.
  • 2003-2025: English translation of Gestapo interrogation transcripts have been published at irregular intervals. 
  • 2003: Speaker at Sonoma State University (Yom Ha-Shoah Day).
  • 2003: Presenter at Women in German (Carrollton, Kentucky).
  • 2003: Presenter at The Dreyfus Conference at Wittenberg University with paper entitled Cynical Idealism.
  • 2005: Co-founded Center for White Rose Studies, a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit, chartered in Pennsylvania.
  • 2007: Featured speaker at Alexander Schmorell conference in Orenburg, Russia.
  • 2008-2025: Established anthology entitled Leaflets of Our Resistance - Honoring the Survivors; Honoring Those Who Resisted; and, Dangerous Words to Live By.
  • 2011: Publication of Evolution of Memory, tracing the "improvement" of Jürgen Wittenstein's 'memory' from 1947 through 2009 - proving he was never part of White Rose resistance.
  • 2012: Winner of Social Media Leadership Award, Wharton Business School, for use of social media and technology for historical research.
  • 2013: Organizer of White Rose Conference, Camarillo, California. Guest speakers included Igor Khramov and Domenic Saller. Conference participated in a joint session on oral history at The Shoah Foundation, as well as an afternoon at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.
  • 2023: Willi Graf conference in Munich, October 2023. German language version of speech (as presented) here. English translation here.
  • 2025: Roundtable presenter for Fulbright Conference in Miami, October 2025, Fresh Faces, New Voices, Old Stories. 
  • LinkedIn profile - Corporate Controller and CFO for American subsidiaries of major German corporations, 1984-2021.

Joyce Light Heap

Joyce is Denise's mom. Our White Rose work would have been impossible without her. On research trips, she was the videographer. Since she was closer in age to e.g., Erich Schmorell, Hermann Geyer, or Elisabeth Hartnagel, they opened up to her, telling stories and memories that related to their shared lifetimes.

Once Exclamation! Publishers was chartered, Joyce handled day-to-day administrative tasks, talking to customers, fulfilling orders, keeping the electricity bills paid. When we traveled to California to interview Wittenstein, it was Joyce who said, "Well, that was fun. But he's hiding something." Her sixth sense about people!

Despite being a stay-at-home mom, she had also worked as an accountant and as an office manager. Those skills proved invaluable, both during our research trips and once we got our businesses off the ground.

After several years of this work, she asked if I would mind if she started using her maiden name Light. "I've always been Johnny's wife or Denise's mom. I think I'd like to be myself for a change." She dropped her married name and once again was Joyce Light.

Read our In Memoriam...