- Date Of Birth: October 25, 1918
- Date Of Death: March 29, 2010
- State: Indiana
William Joseph Hecht, 91, died on Monday, March 29, 2010 at Rawlins House in Pendleton. He was born October 25, 1918 in Coleman, Michigan. He grew up on a farm, the youngest of five children, and graduated from Coleman High School in 1935. He first worked at a radio station in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and in 1941 moved to Anderson to work at the Anderson Broadcasting Company WHBU.
After Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Army Air Force and served as a Master Sergeant maintaining airplane radios in the U.S. and France until his discharge in 1946. On August 22, 1943, he married Pauline Roach at Central Christian Church. After the military, he returned to WHBU as chief engineer and later assistant manager. For his entire career at WHBU, he opened the station each morning at 6 a.m. After the war, WHBU started local sports broadcasting. He first worked with Chuck Bailey and later with Sam Roberts, both play-by-play announcers.
Hecht kept the game statistics at the high school and AU games and did the radio engineering on site. By the time he retired in 1983 he had worked at 2, 500 games over a period of 40 years and kept the statistics of each game he had ever covered. When the Herald Bulletin came up short on background information for various teams and games, they called on Bill Hecht for assistance from his sports records. Eventually, he had all the football and basketball game records for Anderson, Madison Heights, and Highland High Schools back to when the competitions started at each school.
He also assisted with the local production of Verna Whitworth’s daily music program, “A Visit with Verna” from 1948 to 1983. In later years he started doing farm reports for the station and keeping extensive weather statistics for Anderson. Eventually, he went to Purdue University and copied all the weather records for the Anderson Weather Station from the state Climatologist’s records back to the Anderson inception in 1895. The Herald Bulletin often called upon him for information for weather stories for the paper.
Recently all of Hecht’s weather statistics and records were donated to the Indiana Room of the Anderson Public Library. Hecht was a member of Central Christian Church and served there as a deacon, elder and chairman of various committees. He and Pauline lived in Edgewood for 47 years until they moved to Fall Creek Village in Pendleton.
He was a curious man always interested in learning. His family, travel and reading were all very important to him, and his kind and honest nature will always be remembered.
He is survived by his lovely wife of 66 years, Pauline, who resides at Rawlins House in Pendleton; his daughter, Lynn Bradley of Atlanta, Georgia; and his son and daughter-in-law, Greg and Rhonda Hecht of Anderson; grandchildren, Adam Maria Hecht of Bargersville, John Carter Bradley of Carrollton, Georgia, William Bradley of Missoula, Montana and Katherine Bradley of Atlanta, Georgia; a great-granddaughter, Alyssa Dobbs also survives him; nephews, Elmer Sue Hecht and Roger Jan Hecht; and nieces, Norma Hecht and Carol Simpson, all of Michigan. Also surviving him are sister-in-law, Elizabeth Roach; nephews and nieces, Phil Linda Roach, Max Connie Roach, Marilyn Gosnell, Sally Fuller, Steve Marty Roach, Jack Barbara Roach, Ted Linda Roach and Marjorie Norm Hathcoat.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Jacob and Minna Peters Hecht; brothers, Norman & wife Mary, Elmer & wife Leona, Harry & wife Arlene and a sister, Iva Snyder & husband Cliff, all of Michigan; and granddaughter, Sara Elizabeth Hecht of Anderson. Also father-in-law and mother-in-law, Fred and Effie McCord Roach; brothers-in-law & sisters-in-law, John Roach of Elwood, Merlin and Violet Roach Fuller of Alexandria, Charles and Helene Roach of Frankton, Gerald and Maxine Roach of Pendleton and nephews, Rex Roach of Pendleton, Richard Fuller and Armitte Gosnell of Alexandria.
The family is especially grateful to all the kind and caring staff at Rawlins House in Pendleton and also to Seasons Hospice.
