Jack W Hess

Jack W. Hess died Friday, August 13, 2021 in Iuka, Mississippi. He was born in Verden, OK and was raised on a cattle farm. After high school, he played Varsity Basketball at the University of Arkansas and graduated in 1951 with a Bachelors Degree in Education. He was drafted in 1951 and served overseas in the Korean War and was discharged in 1953. He then played two years of professional basketball in the NIBL, a rival league of the NBA. He then returned to the University of Arkansas to coach the Men's Basketball Freshman Team and obtained a Masters Degree in Education. After coaching and teaching at Chickasha, OK for three years, he and his wife, Autry C. Hess, returned to her hometown of Memphis, TN where he went into sales work throughout the southeast. After retiring, he and his family developed property in North Alabama and North Carolina and had several houses built on the MS coast. He was preceded in death by his wife, Autry Hess. He is survived by his daughter, Elizabeth Hess of Iuka, MS, his son and daughter-in-law, Steve and Teresa Hess of Lamar, MS and his brother and sister-in-law, Stanley and Belva Hess of San Antonio, TX. A brief memorial service will be held at 1:30 PM on Thursday, Aug. 26 at the Biloxi National Cemetery in Biloxi where he will also be interred. Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home, 15th Street Gulfport is honored to serve the Hess family. View and sign the online register at www.bokfh.com.