William Hess

(This article originally appeared in the October 5, 1972 issue of the Tazewell County News, written by Ginny Winn. It has been slightly edited for clarity.)

Salesman, poet, "Dutch uncle," farm boy at heart---William J. Hess, Citizen of the Month for Tazewell Publications, is a man of many facets.

Born 77 years ago in a house three miles northwest of Washington, he grew up on a farm and graduated from Hopewell School at 17.

Says Hess: "It had a nice, big playground, and we played baseball to our hearts' content. Played old-fashioned shinny with handmade shinny clubs and got ourselves all busted up."

As was common then, he worked on the family farm without wages into his twenties, then sold Watkins Products (household items) in the eastern half of Tazewell County. Hess recalls traveling in a covered wagon pulled by a team of horses and staying at farmhouses overnight. "You would be all worn out, and the (farm families) would want to talk."

"Uncle Billy," as he was known to many, also manufactured and sold sorghum, thus acquiring his nickname, which was also the brand name of the sorghum.

During his travels by wagon and Model T, Hess met his wife Marie, who was reared on a farm near Deer Creek. Married 52 years, they have lived at 1004 Peoria Street, Washington, since 1923, where their three children, Mrs. Hermina Eichorn, Don, and Ron, grew up. Mr. and Mrs. Hess also have nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

After seven years with Watkins and seven years of selling life insurance, Hess switched to real estate in 1934. And that is what he does today. "I sell farm land," he affirms. "I enjoy my work. I love to meet people."

Although he has not driven for the past 2 1/2 years, letting someone else chauffeur him, Hess puts in a full day and gets home about 5:30 or 6 pm.

He is fond of children. "I really like young people, especially boys," Hess says. For many years, he visited the Nachusa Orphanage near Dixon annually, delivering watermelons and other food from the Lutheran Church.

There he met John Koth, from a family of 13 children, six of whom were in the orphanage at one time. In 1936, when the oldest was 16, John and three of his brothers were invited to make their home with the Hesses, which they did, going to school in Washington.

The Koth brothers still count the Hess home as theirs. As Hess puts it, "They are one of us. They confide in our children, and ours in them." The four brothers have added 11 "grandchildren" to the Hess family.

On many a day, Hess would stop to play baseball at a country school or take boys to see a game. "In years past. For 40 years, I took a load of boys, some of whom had never seen one, to a big league game either in St. Louis or Chicago.

"Just try it sometime," he recommends. "It will be worth more to you than to the boys." He can't make up his mind, however, whether he is a Cub or a Cardinal fan.

Even today, Hess says, he cannot ignore a young man in need. "I always give boys rides in my car when they are hitch-hiking. I never turned down a serviceman in my life. During World War II, I never picked up a boy where we didn't stop for coffee and something to eat."

Not the least of Hess's endeavors has been writing poetry. He has composed more than 500 poems since 1920. His daughter recalls many times when he would be up late at night preparing a poem for a friend before the deadline.

Then, there is farming. True to his upbringing, Hess has always been farm-minded and has spent a couple of hours each day on his farm. Now that illness has slowed him down, though, he confines himself to working in his vegetable garden every morning and night.

Illness may have slowed him down, but Uncle Billy is doing more every day than most people. And a lot of it is for other people.

"Uncle Billy" passed away on December 28, 1982, and is buried in Glendale Cemetery.