John Ellsworth Hess ’44 died on February 13, 2006, in Bangor, Maine.

Born on October 11, 1921, in Philadelphia, PA, he prepared for college at Ricker Classical Institute in Houlton, ME, and Riverside Military Academy in Hollywood, FL, and became a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity a Bowdoin. Following his graduation in 1943 magna cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Class of 1944, he served in the U.S. Navy for three years during World War II, attaining the rank of lieutenant junior grade. Following his graduation from Harvard Law School in 1948, he joined the legal department of the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad, where he became general counsel and vice president-finance. In 1967, he joined the Bangor law firm of Eaton, Peabody, Bradford & Veague, specializing in security law. He established the corporate department for the firm and served as its head until his retirement in 1986. He was a member of the Bangor City Council from 1954 to 1956 and was its chairman in 1956. He also served on the boards of Eastern Maine Medical Center, Husson College, and the Eastern Trust & Banking Company. In 1974, he was appointed to Maine’s newly created Board of Environmental Protection. In retirement, he was a volunteer counselor and president of the Bangor chapter of SCORE. He was also a member of the Penobscot Valley Country Club, the Tarratine Club, and the All Souls Congregational Church, serving there as a deacon and as moderator. Surviving are his wife, Barbara Perry Hess, whom he married in 1944; four sons, Walter R. Hess ’67 of Wellesley, MA, Alan P. Hess ’74 of Bangor, Paul E. Hess ’78 of Braintree, MA, and John Hess; a daughter, Brenda H. Jordan; 13 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.