Hess, Anna B. (1864-1940)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1939 [sic 1940] Jan 24 p. 1

Birth date: 1864

text of obituary:

Town of Hesston Named After Two of Its Earliest Settlers

LATE ANNA B. HESS AND HUSBAND INSTRUMENTAL IN LOCATING HESSTON COLLEGE

Mrs. Anna B. Hess, wife of the late A. L. Hess of Hesston, died Saturday, January 13, at the age of 76 years, following a lingering illness. Mrs. Hess and her husband originally owned the land on which the town of Hesston was founded; from them it also got its name.

A number o years after the locating of the town, when the Amer. Mennonite Board of Education considered establishing a school in the middle west, Mr. and Mrs. Hess again donated 80 acres of land upon which the school was built. With this favorable beginning, the school prospered and is today a fully accredited junior college. This tract now includes the educational plant, the college campus, and the school’s modern dairy farm.

Mrs. Hess and her husband were married at Lincoln, Penn., August 16, 1883, and soon thereafter moved to Harvey county, Kansas.

Funeral services were held in the Hesston College chapel Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 16, conducted by President Milo Kauffman and Rev. M. A. Yoder.