Herman William Hess Jr., 83, passed away Friday, March 1, 2019, surrounded by his loved ones. His sweet smile will be missed by all.
He was born and grew up in Chester. He graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1959 and Catherine Spalding College in 1968.
Mr. Hess retired from Ford Motor Company in 1990. After retirement, he held part-time positions with Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), the College of William & Mary and Colonial Williamsburg.
Mr. Hess was preceded in death by his parents, Herman William Hess and Elizabeth Milton Hess; late wife, Joan Woodall Copeland Hess; and daughter, Elizabeth (Beth) Ellen Copeland Phillips.
He is survived by his loving wife, Kathryn Riley Hess; brother, Milton Andrew Hess, and his wife, Carolyn Williamson Hess; daughters, Elizabeth Lamb, and her husband, Bill, Cynthia Garcia, and her husband, Oscar, Barbara Copeland Moore, and her husband, Scott, and Kim LeClear; sons, Ronald LeClear, and his wife, Pamela, and Robert LeClear, and his wife, Teri; grandchildren, Grayson Moore, Mitchell Moore, Nicholas Garcia, and his wife, Jeanette, Diego Garcia, Macy Garcia, Joshua LeClear, and his wife, Paige, and Kathryn Cirilli, and her husband, Brandon; great-grandchildren, Grace Garcia, Gabriel Garcia, Cooper Garcia, Pyper Garcia, Rudy Garcia, Noah Garcia, Amy LeClear, Nicholas LeClear, Dominic Cirilli, Chase Cirilli and Luca Cirilli.
A celebration of life will be held at 1 p.m., Saturday, March 9, at Bucktrout of Williamsburg Funeral Home.
Memorial donations may be made to the Williamsburg Alzheimer’s Association.
Share online condolences with the family at Bucktrout of Williamsburg Funeral Service.
