Brave Hearts

Courage and commitment run deep in the family of Bill Hector ’72. The Hector Family Courage Endowed Scholarship Fund at St. Benedict’s Prep honors his family’s firefighting legacy — and provides tuition assistance to Gray Bees from first responder families.

Last summer, news reports that a Port Newark fire had claimed the lives of two Newark firefighters — including Captain Wayne Brooks ’92 — hit close to home for Bill. He understood the inherent dangers of the field well: His dad, paternal grandfather and three uncles had all served as career firefighters in Essex County communities, and his dad was on a rig battling blazes during the 1967 Newark riots. Yet, Captain Brooks’ line of duty death shook Bill to his core. He wanted to help.

After learning that a GoFundMe account had already been established for the Brooks family, Bill began to think about ways to honor the bravery of first responders who selflessly risk their lives for others. “I was connecting the dots between my family roots and what had just happened to Captain Brooks,” Bill explained. “St. Benedict’s is where much of my character was formed. I also had this deep family history of serving the community. So, I started to think about ways to assist the families of first responders.”

After exploring several options with St. Benedict’s Chief Advancement Officer Mike Fazio, Bill decided to establish the Hector Family Courage Endowed Scholarship Fund with a gift of $25,000. Since then, others have stepped up to contribute, including fellow Gray Bees from the Class of 1972 and Bill’s family and friends. The fund will award scholarships to St. Benedict’s students from first responder families, with preference given to those from Newark and East Orange.

Strength from Adversity

Resilience has marked the Hector family for generations. Toward the end of the Great Depression, Bill’s first generation maternal grandfather, Stephen DiPerto, committed suicide, leaving his wife to raise their five teenage children alone. His grandfather’s final wish: That his widow sell their failing East Orange grocery store and use the insurance money to purchase a two-family home in East Orange, living in one unit and renting the other to provide income for the family. Then, fate took hold.

In 1940, the Hector family — with Bill’s dad — rented the downstairs unit, while the DiPerto family — with Bill’s mom — lived upstairs. “So, my mom and dad met as teenagers shoveling coal in the basement of that building,” Bill said. “Then, my dad went off to the U.S. Merchant Marines during World War II, came home and married my mom in 1949. They had a happy 50-year marriage. As a firefighter, my father never missed a day of work and fellow firefighters said he had more guts than anyone. One time, Mom and I saw him literally leap onto the roof of a burning battery and ignition building that was exploding. Another time, on a family trip to Pittsburgh, we came across a flower shop on fire. The fire department was not there yet. Dad pulled over, put on his gear from the trunk and rushed into the building to look for anyone trapped. You don’t forget moments like that. Dad passed away in 2000, but to this day, I ask him to give me courage often when facing adversity.” 

The young couple soon moved to Maplewood in 1954, when Bill was born. He and his brother attended a Catholic school affiliated with the Benedictine fathers. Valuing the principles of a Benedictine education, Bill chose to continue his education at St. Benedict’s Prep in nearby Newark. An honor student, he played shortstop on the 1971 championship Gray Bee baseball team and learned important lessons about character and hard work. “At St. Benedict’s, I continued to learn the value of self-discipline,” Bill said. “To this day when things have gotten tough for me and my family, I still remember that ‘Benedict’s Hates a Quitter.’ It’s part of my mental filter.”

After graduating from The Hive, Bill earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Stonehill College in Massachusetts and a Master of Science in Organization Development from American University in Washington, D.C. He spent more than three decades working in leadership development for major corporations like Johnson & Johnson and Citigroup.

Born to Serve

Today, Bill and his wife, Jodi, live on the southern Delaware coast, in a home overlooking a golf course and bay, and enjoy family time with their son, Brennan, and daughter, Kelly. Yet, he has no desire to retire full time. In 2016, he founded William Hector & Associates, an executive coaching firm, and currently serves on the executive education coaching faculty at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. 

Bill also continues to live the family tradition of serving others through pro bono consulting. He shares his expertise and energy with several nonprofits, including Good Grief, a New Jersey-based 501c3 organization he co-founded in 2004 to help children and families cope with loss and build resilience. Bill served on the Board of Trustees for many years and continues to lend his energy to Good Grief by facilitating grief support education in New Jersey school systems. 

For 15 years, Bill and his close friend and classmate, Peter T. Wilderotter ’72, were also active in fundraising. Retired as President of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and a current member of the St. Benedict’s Board of Trustees, Mr. Wilderotter collaborated with Bill to sponsor an annual corporate Olympics competition that raised close to $1 million for cancer care and support.

“We’re living a beautiful life, and I don’t really have to work anymore,” Bill explained. “But that’s not me — I need to feel productive and valued. It goes back to the self-discipline I learned at St. Benedict’s, both through academics and athletics.”

Reflecting on the Hector Family Courage Endowed Scholarship Fund, Bill added, “A variety of influences shape people, and for me, that meant growing up in a family of firefighters and St. Benedict’s. I love St. Benedict’s, and I’ve stayed connected and supported the School. I always knew I wanted to do something really significant for St. Benedict’s students. My father, grandfather and uncles were very humble men. They would be proud of this scholarship and its mission to be of service to families of first responders.” 

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To donate to the Hector Family Courage Endowed Scholarship Fund, please visit www.sbp.org/hector. Or, to learn how you can endow a scholarship, please contact Kristin Fehrenbach at kfehrenbach@sbp.org.