Profile: Jim Hess

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 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

antenna, at the store’s east entrance. Jim admits that in his blue blazer and khaki slacks, and driving his company car, he could easily have been mistaken for a detective.

As Jim entered the east door, he noticed the Chevy began revving its engine. As he stepped in, he said, “Boy! We had an interesting seminar tonight, it was on counterfeiting.” He noticed a small man standing at the counter in a trench coat, and as Jim walked behind him, the man turned 360 degrees. Jim picked up the $20 dollar bill the man handed the cashier to pay for his Jack Daniels, held it up to the light and said, “That one looks ok,” and laughed. The customer wasn’t laughing at all, in fact Jim describes him as looking like a vicious mad dog ready to attack. It made Jim’s blood run cold. Taking his purchase, the man backed from the counter all the way to the south door, then spun around and ran out the door and left.

A few months later, Jim entered the store and his employee asked him if he had seen the Tulsa Tribune. They both stood in shock as they recognized the man on the cover as the strange customer from that October night. It was the notorious serial murderer Roger Dale Stafford, best known for the Oklahoma City steakhouse murders in July 1978, who was suspected of committing several other murders with his wife and brother since 1974. Stafford was known for leaving no witnesses. Jim could only guess that Stafford suspected he was a cop and armed, so he didn’t commit murder that night at Fifth and Shawnee.

Jim’s love of the Bartlesville community has remained strong through the years. He served the community as a two-term president of The Friends of the Bartlesville Library. During his leadership, he was instrumental in starting the annual creative writing contest, which has become a beloved tradition in our literary community. Jim is a writer himself and wishes he had more time to devote to the craft. His writing has won awards through the creative writing contest sponsored by Friends of the Bartlesville Library.

Jim holds a deep love for our community history and is truly knowledgeable on many subjects, including history on the founding of our town and its growth. He is a former three-term president of the Bartlesville Historical Society and was very involved in the establishment of the one-room schoolhouse exhibit, a replica of the late 1800s school built by early-day pioneer Nelson Carr, at the Bartlesville Area History Museum. It was his vision to acquire authentic furniture and supplies used in the pioneer time period, and invested much time obtaining just the right items necessary for a realistic experience.

Jim considers his greatest accomplishment to be the creation of the College High Alumni Scholarship Program. It was an idea that literally came to him in the shower one day, after the town’s two high schools — College High and Sooner High — were merged to become Bartlesville High School, in 1982. He wanted the Wildcats of College High to be remembered for their love of education, and created a way for them to pay it forward to future generations. Each alumnus that joins the scholarship program agrees to donate their graduation year in dollars, every year on their birthday. For example, Jim graduated in 1961, so every year on his birthday, he donates $19.61 to the scholarship.

The College High Alumni Scholarship has helped 141 graduates attend college since its inception in 1986, and maintains $500K in a very conservative investment portfolio. Scholarship recipients continue to receive Wildcat financial assistance each year that they make their grades in college. Because of this legacy, Jim has promoted education and growth for the young people of our community in a way that continues to change lives.

Jim Hess and his wife, Linda.

Jim Hess is a keeper of history and a teller of stories that future generations need to hear. Education comes to us in many ways. Sometimes it is through formal institutions, but other times it is through the heart of a local businessman with a love of sharing history. We have much to learn from Jim, and we are grateful for his love of our past and the desire to carry it forward.