Heklina aka Stefan Grygelko was a drag queen, actor and entrepreneur in San Francisco and founder of the drag club Trannyshack in 1996, the longest drag event series in San Francisco – later rebranded as “Mother” at The Oasis in 2015. Heklina was voted the Community Grand Marshall of the 2004 San Francisco Pride Parade, and won 2009 Pride Creativity Award for Outstanding Artistic Contribution to the LGBTQ Community.
She emceed a variety of community events including Folsom Street Fair and San Francisco Pride, and co-starred in a series of short films – “Tran-ilogy of Terror” – a drag queen horror spoof written and directed by long-time collaborator Peaches Christ. In 2022, Heklina appeared alongside Peaches in “Mommie Queerest”, and was slated to perform the show in London when she passed. Heklina was mother to many drag queens and is a true icon in San Francisco.