Herbert Hengst

Herbert R. “Herb” Hengst, 88, of Bettendorf, IA and longtime resident of Norman, OK died August 20, 2012 at Genesis Medical Center, East Campus in Davenport, IA.

Per his request cremation rites have been accorded. A private family service will be held at a later date in Norman where his remains will be interred.  McGinnis-Chambers Funeral Home, Bettendorf, IA is assisting the family with arrangements.

Herb was born in an upstairs bedroom of the house of his childhood on May 22, 1924 in Grand Rapids, Michigan to his parents, Marion C. Hengst and Lulu Elnora Heininger Hengst. He lived in Grand Rapids until his service in WWII as B-24 pilot. During his service in 1944-45 he flew 33 combat missions including 13 as the lead or deputy lead crew. He was based in Italy as a member of the 15th Air Force, 98th Bombardment Group, Heavy. He earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with two Oak Leaf clusters. Hengst was proud of his service and the contributions he made during that experience. After the war he served several years in the Reserves and retired with the rank of Major. He continued to fly for many years after that and enjoyed very much the chance to take his grandchildren for flights.

He went to college on the GI Bill and graduated from Albion College in Michigan in 1948. It was there he met his wife, Jane Fenner. They were married on April Fools Day in 1950 and spent 54 years together until her death in 2004.

Herb earned a Ph.D. at Michigan State University in 1960 while working as a pastor of two small country churches in DeWitt and Gunnisonville. He and his family moved to Norman, OK in 1964 where he was a professor in the College of Education at the University of Oklahoma. He helped over 60 students earn a Ph.D. and served in many capacities including Interim Dean and Director of the Center for Studies in Higher Education which he initiated at OU. As part of that initiative, he developed and conducted a training program for school administrators in Saudi Arabia. Those responsibilities included several trips to Saudi Arabia and a year-long stay in Riyadh during 1974-75. He remained close to many of the students in that program but has kept in regular contact with Mohammed A. Rasheed and his family for 30 years. He retired from OU as Professor Emeritus in 1989 after 25 years of service.

He and his wife, Jane, were active members of McFarlin United Method Church, Norman, during all their years in Oklahoma. They sang in choir where Jane was a regular soloist for many years, served on boards, and were active participants in the adult Sunday School Program. They were lifelong musicians and also sang for 12 years in the Canterbury Choral Society in Oklahoma City. In the mid 80s Herb served several years as Chair of the OU Wesley Foundation Board. After he moved to Bettendorf in 2006 to live with his son’s family, he participated in the choir at Asbury United Methodist Church, Bettendorf, for several years.

He loved to sing, play clarinet, read, help others, and write poetry. The opening stanza from a poem, Between Us, that he wrote in 1964 for his wife is still poignant: “There is a bond between us / that time can never sever, / Nor can space, to infinity, / keep us from being together.”

Survivors who will always remember Herb include his daughter, Julie Hengst, her husband, Paul Prior and their children Nora (Ben Sandkam) and Anna; his son Randy Hengst, and wife, Joan, and their children Jeff, Jasen, and Kendall.

Herb was preceded in death by his wife, Jane, his sisters, Dorothy (Stout) and Murial (Shepherd), and his parents Elnora and Marion.

Memorial contributions may be made to the: Herb and Jane Hengst Lecture Series, McFarlin United Methodist Church, PO Box 6390, Norman, OK 73070 or Herbert R. Hengst Scholarship Fund in Higher Education Administration, University of Oklahoma, College of Education, Attn: Autumn McMahon, 820 VanVleet Oval  ECH100, Norman, OK  73019-2041