William Hess, professor emeritus of classics at the University of Utah, died March 26, 2015, of natural causes. He was 81.
Hess graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in 1955 and 1959 respectively. In between, he taught high school for one year and then served in the Army from 1956 to 1958. In 1963, he earned a Ph.D. in classics from Princeton.
From 1962 to 1968, Hess taught at the University of Texas, Austin. Then, from 1968 to 1998, he taught classics at the University of Utah, where he chaired the department of languages and literature from 1977 to 1983.
In 1954, Hess married Diane Debnam, and they had two children. Diane died in 1970, and he married Cheryl Potter Stevens in 1975. Hess is survived by Cheryl; two children; one stepdaughter; two grandchildren; and four step-grandchildren.
Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.