Houghton - Rev.
Hudson Smalley Hess a former resident of Houghton died Friday, April 13, 2018
in Lynchburg, VA. He was born on May 9, 1934 in Zamboanga City, Philippines, a
son of the late Robert Reuel and Mary Viola Roth Hess. He married Lucy Mae
Mears who survives.
Robert and Viola were missionaries to the Philippines with
the Christian & Missionary Alliance. At age 7, Hudson and his family were
captured by Japanese soldiers and held in internment camps in the Philippines
for 2 ½ years before they were rescued by American soldiers on February 23,
1945. Details of the rescue are recorded in the History Channel documentary,
"Rescue At Dawn: The Los Banos Raid" and in the children's book,
Captured by Arlene Hess Elkins (Hudson's older sister).
Hudson met Lucy Mae Mears while they attended Houghton
College, and they graduated together in 1955.
Wanting to see his former captors in a different light, and
prompted by General Douglas MacArthur's plea for missionaries, Hudson went to
Japan with The Oriental Missionary Society and served two years on an Every
Creature Crusade team, visiting households and distributing gospel literature.
He returned to the US in 1958, married Lucy, and enrolled in electronics
training at RCA Institutes in New York City to prepare for overseas radio
ministry.
Rev. Hess was ordained in the Wesleyan Church and pastored a
Wesleyan congregation in Lyndonville for two years before being commissioned
for missionary service to Haiti in 1964. Hudson and Lucy served with OMS International
in Haiti from 1964 to 1995, where he served as Director of Radio 4VEH, taught
Bible and Electronics at Emmaus Vocational Bible School, and advised the
national church.
He is known by many for his love of trees and plants, and
for his grafting and reforestation projects. The Hesses' service with OMS also
included a brief term in France and an itinerant prayer ministry in the U.S.
Rev. Hess founded Family Life Outreach in Haiti in 1995 with
a vision to equip Haitians with vocational skills, enabling them to support
their families, churches, and communities. FLO's projects included gardening,
tree planting, and the translation of a Biblical Counseling manual into the Kreyol
language.
Surviving in addition to his loving wife of nearly 60 years
are their six children, Beth (Richard) Pocock of Swannanoa, North Carolina;
Bonnie (Timothy) Tamura of Tokorozawa, Japan; Becky (David) Samuels of
Charlotte, North Carolina; Beverly (Gary) Reddaway of Pleasant Hill, Missouri;
Brenda (Craig) Osterhus of Lynchburg, Virginia; and Barbara (Christopher)
Fraschetti of Houghton; 20 grandchildren, eleven great-grandchildren, his
siblings, Arlene Elkins of Kansas City, Kansas; Bruce Hess of Houghton, Lois
Yankowski of Apalachin, Victor Hess of Waxhaw, North Carolina; Philip Hess of
Mankato, Minnesota and several nieces and nephews.
In addition to his parents he was predeceased by a
grandchild.
Family and friends may gather from 7:00 to 9:00 pm on
Friday, April 20, 2018 at the Kopler-Williams Funeral Home, 21 N Genesee
Street, Fillmore and from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 21, 2018 at
the Houghton Wesleyan Church where a funeral service will follow at 11:00 a.m.
Rev. Dr. Wesley Oden will officiate. Burial will be in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery,
Houghton. Memorials if desired to: the Hudson Hess Memorial Fund, www.gofundme.com/hudsonhessmemorialfund.
