Ben J. Hett

Ben J. Hett a native son of Wausau, born here on December 13, 1918, died in Cincinnati, Ohio on December 5, 2005. He was the son of Ben J. Hett, Sr., a pioneer plumbing and heating contractor in Wausau, and of his wife, Elizabeth (Odenweller) Hett. Ben was a graduate of the old St. Mary's Grade School, Wausau East High School and of the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater. He returned regularly to Wausau to visit family and friends, including his late oldest sister, Bertha Schilling, several nieces and nephews, and cousins from Winner, Weisbrod and Podruch families. He was a life-long friend of Gordon Kieffer and his wife, Florence. He is survived by his sister, Helen (Harold) Bergh of New Berlin. Other relatives that preceded him in death are three brothers, Henry, Carl and Pete Hett; and three sisters, Elizabeth Fennimore, Theresa Gazdecki and Bertha Schilling. During World War II, Ben served in the Armed Forces in Allied Military Government in North Africa and Italy. Following the war, he lived and taught in the Canal Zone in Panama, and in Peru he studied and received a doctorate from the University of San Marcos, Lima. He returned to Wausau in 1949 and then taught at the University of Minnesota, Mankato. In 1953, he entered the Franciscan Order and taught as Brother Christopher at their schools in Cincinnati, Ohio (St. Bernard) and in Roswell and Galley New Mexico. In 1970, he was dispensed from his vows, and headed the Social Studies Department at Princeton High School in a suburb of Cincinnati. Ben retired in 1979, and traveled extensively throughout the world. He also taught for two years at the U. S. Air Base in Ramstein, Germany. Funeral services will be 10:00 a.m. Monday, December 12, 2005 at Peterson/Kraemer Funeral Home, 1302 Sixth Street, Wausau. Burial will be in St. Joseph Cemetery, Wausau. Friends may call Monday from 9:30 a.m. until time of services at the funeral home. Online condolences at www.petersonkraemer.com