George Hess

The Early Life of Fr. Hess

Father Hess was born on 10 October, 1919 in Bayonne, New Jersey to David and Julia Hess. His Father, was a self-made civil engineer and a consultant to JP Morgan. David Hess was also a close friend of Mr. Rayens, the Chairman of AT&T and in the good old days, the young George Hess would visit the estate of Mr. Rayens on Long Island with his parents. It was this privileged lifestyle that Father Hess gave up to make the journey to Bihar as a Jesuit in 1952.

George Hess

The De Nobili School, FRI, Dhanbad was founded in 1956 by the same Jesuits who established Loyola School, Jamshedpur. Fr. F. X. McFarland was the founding Principal of De Nobili. Fr. George Hess, one the longest serving principals at Loyola, was the principal of the sibling school for 17 years. Fr. Kirsh established the physics labs there just like he had done it here in Loyola. The two schools have shared the same set of Jesuits, besides those named above, including Fr. T. Peacock, Fr. Hunt, Fr. E. Welch, Fr. Eugene Power, Fr. J. Keogh, Fr. H. Lobo, Fr. Eric Cassel, Fr. George Thana and Fr. Pius Fernandes.

Fr. Power in Dec. 2006

It is 10 minutes all eleven a.m., Dec. 9, 2006. I sit in my room to write a letter to people whose faces and names are now fading into the dream of the past, the many years I spend in the lovely land of Singhbhum, in Jamshedpur and other places.

Those 43 years were the heart of my life but at age 87 my memory plays tricks on me and I have to struggle to recreate that dream world. Of course, soon, when I get to heaven, it will all come back and again all my old friends will join me there and our old memories will be sharp and it will all come back to us.

Originally published in the Motif of September 11, 2006.

(Fr. Hess is an eminent educationist who has spent more than half a century setting up schools, colleges and centres for vocational training in Jharkhand, Bihar and Orissa.)

The teaching staff of Loyola School was small when I entered its portals as Principal in 1953. 285 students were enrolled. Classes ranged from Std. I to Std. Xl. Among the teachers facing me at the assembly was the smiling face of a young man, Reynold D’Souza. His smile was noteworthy because of its omnipresence and because it carried a genuine interest in those whom he taught.