Dr. David Lazear Hess

Dr. David Lazear Hess, 77, husband of Dr. Ceferina Gayo Hess, former professor of political science at Lander University, died on May 6, 2011 at Hospice House of congestive heart failure. He is survived by his devoted and loving wife of 38 years, Ceferina, otherwise name Ely, the great love of his life; by his brother, J. Joseph Hess and his wife, Dr. Sylvi Koso Hess, of Butler, OH, and their five children, namely, Tuukka Daniel Hess and wife, Cristiane, and daughter, Alma Victoria, of Denver, CO; Deirdre Mars and husband, Benjamin, of New York City; Tara Hess of Columbus, OH, Maura Hess of Boston, MA and Riikka Erin Hess of Atlanta, GA. Dr. Hess was born in Mt. Vernon, OH to Rex Victor Hess and Kathryn Lazear, both deceased. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Miami University, Oxford, OH; his Master of Business Administration and Master of Arts degrees from Western Reserve University and his Doctor of Philosophy degree from New York University with majors in American, East Asian and Southeast Asian history. His doctor�s dissertation was �The Educated Vietnamese Middle-Class of Saigon and Their Legacy of Confucian Authority, 1954-1975.� Dr. Hess�s interest in Japan, China and the Far East spans a period of 36 years. He has visited Japan twelve times. Dr. Hess served with the US Army in 1956 and 1957 in South Korea. During this time he was editor of the ranking army newspaper, Jolly Rogers. Like many of our servicemen, he spent his furloughs visiting Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. From 1966 to 1968, he taught English at the University of Saigon and Pusan National University on Fulbright-Hays grants. While working with the East-West Foundation in Atlanta in 1976, he taught English and American culture to newly arrived students from Japan for 15 summers in various colleges in South Carolina (Lander), North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. Dr. Hess was a world class traveling professor since 1979. He taught history courses at Paine College, LaGrange College and Savannah State College in Georgia; Frostburg State College in Maryland; Black Hills State College in South Dakota; Radford University in Virginia; Mansfield University in Pennsylvania; Texas A & M University in Kingsville, Texas and USC-Aiken and USC-Spartanburg in South Carolina. He taught a total of 40 history courses in 36 years of his teaching career. Dr. Hess was an avid basketball player in high school and throughout his life enjoyed watching all scheduled basketball games in Greenwood and other places, including a love for tennis, football and baseball on television.

Dr. David Lazear Hess

December 18, 1969 - May 6, 2011

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