James Heathman

James Easter Heathman (April 7, 1917 – January 29, 2008), also known as J. E. Heathman, was an American former farmer and U.S. Army veteran, who, as a teenager in 1931, witnessed and discovered the crash of a Transcontinental & Western Air airliner, which killed eight people, most notably University of Notre Dame football coach, Knute Rockne. Heathman, who was 13 years old at the time he discovered the plane crash with his father on March 31, 1931, was the last living witness to the plane crash. Heathman later became a Knute Rockne historian and often led free tours of Notre Dame fans to the site of the crash, especially during the last 20 years of his life.