PROFILE
Jim Hess
A Merchant’s Legacy by Sarah Leslie Gagan
It has been said, with a wink and a twinkle of the eye, that it was an arranged marriage when the son of a grocery wholesaler married the daughter of a retail grocer in 1933. Both Joe Hess and Mildred Jolley had Bartlesville family history dating back to 1902. Moreover, it was a rich history of entrepreneurship, commercial business know-how, and serving people. These values are alive and well today in the Hess family, carried on by Joe and Mildred’s third child, Jim.
In Jim’s eyes, the whole world was magical while growing up in Bartlesville, when the entire town was west of the Caney River. He fondly recalls his grade school years at Garfield elementary, riding bicycles with friends, attending movies downtown, and getting into some schoolboy mischief. His parents’ two-story home on South Johnstone was the popular place for his friends to gather, as well as friends of his sister and brother. It was the comfortable busyness of growing up that would become fodder for some of Jim’s favorite stories he would share with friends later in life. He has a natural, captivating bent for storytelling with his mellow voice and delightful choice of words. After graduating from College High School in 1961, Jim attended Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, and keeping with the family trade, majored in Business Administration. He began his career at Shell Oil Company in the credit department. He enjoyed the accounting work, however, Jim missed interacting with people and the public. It was at Shell Oil that he met and married his wife, Linda, who has been his bride of 52 years. Jim has a daughter, Tracy Ann, and a son, David, as well as two grandsons and one
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granddaughter. The picture above was taken by David while Jim was in Ireland. Following his time at Shell Oil, Jim began a lengthy career in the medical and laboratory supply business. In 1977, while continuing to work his full-time day job, Jim bought Fifth & Shawnee Liquor Store from his father, who had opened the retail liquor store in 1965. He was blessed with reliable and trustworthy employees, which he considered family, to help keep the store running. Jim has many memories from his 44 years as owner of the store at Fifth and Shawnee. Perhaps the most memorable story to tell is of the October night when evil came calling. It was 1978, and Jim was still living and working in Tulsa. He came into Bartlesville on a Tuesday to attend a seminar presented by the Chamber of Commerce and Department of Treasury about counterfeiting. Jim came into his liquor store at dusk and noticed a dark blue, early-model Chevrolet with Kansas plates parked at the south door. Jim parked his company car, equipped with both a regular antenna and CB
