John Hess, 66, lawyer, athlete
At Interboro High School in 1966, John C. Hess was a starter on an All-Delaware County football team and in 1970 a starting tailback on the Princeton University team.
At Interboro High School in 1966, John C. Hess was a starter on an All-Delaware County football team and in 1970 a starting tailback on the Princeton University team.
"He was an incredible athlete," said Keith Lambie, owner of a surgical distribution firm who met Mr. Hess in Cape May in 1981.
He often served as a crew member on Lambie's 30-foot sailboat, he said, once making it from Chesapeake Bay to Martha's Vineyard.
After Mr. Hess - at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds - was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease in 2006, "he lived to come to Cape May," where Lambie and his family resided.
"Cape May was freedom for him as the disease progressed," Lambie said. In his wheelchair, "you could find Jack ripping up and down the boardwalk, a smile on his face."
On Monday, April 11, Mr. Hess, 66, of Atlantic Highlands, a lawyer and financial adviser, died at home of complications from the disease, also known as ALS.
Born in Ridley Park, Mr. Hess graduated from Interboro High School in 1967.
His wife, Patricia, said that some of the best memories from his youth were of summers he worked for the Cape May Beach Patrol from 1966 to 1977.
Mr. Hess earned a bachelor's in political science at Princeton University in 1971 and a law degree at Temple University in 1974.
In the early 1980s, his wife said, he worked as a lawyer in Haddonfield.
During the bulk of his career, from 1989 to 2011, Mr. Hess lived in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and worked out of his home office for the financial firm BNYMellon.
Mr. Hess first noticed a problem when he was playing basketball in the yard and having trouble making three-point shots, his wife said.
"He thought it was a rotator cuff and did have an operation to fix it," she said, "but he saw no improvement."
In February 2006, at age 56, he was diagnosed with ALS.
"Visually," she said, "you could see he was losing strength."
His job required "a lot of travel," she said, "and that was tough. He was also speaking in front of groups and you could see that his speech was slurring."
Though his firm allowed him to confine his work to his home office, his wife said, he left his job in 2008 and moved to Atlantic Highlands in 2011.
Medical officials "give you this projection of three to five years" of life expectancy for ALS, she said, so it was an accomplishment to mark the 10th year of his disease in February.
He had time "preparing for the eventual loss of all your muscles," she said. Through the years, "what set Jack apart was his determination to defeat it."
Besides his wife of 39 years, Mr. Hess is survived by sons Jon and Paul, daughters Jennifer Palmer and Alison Hess, a brother, a sister, and three grandchildren.
Services were set for Saturday, April 16.
Donations may be sent to the People With ALS Foundation at www.joandancyandpals.org.
Condolences may be offered to the family at www.spilkerfuneralhome.com.
610-313-8134@WNaedele