In 1946 the two churches presented my father with a new car, a wonderful and generous gift for someone who did so much driving. The last car my father had was a 1964 Dodge and brother Charles has it in mint condition and loves to drive it out to the church and around. Sister Audrey was in the Waves as a Link Trainer Instructor and she and my dad were the first father-daughter inducted into the American Legion.

My parents were always so interested in music and our family, along with some local people, formed a little orchestra. We would practice whenever we could find a free evening and then play for Luther Leagues, ice cream socials, etc. Daddy would also direct the church choir and mother was accompanist. We had a large group and even put on a program on KWLC at Luther College. Brother Paul was six months old when we moved here and he stayed with Aunt Sophie in Elkader during the move and I came early and spent six weeks with Grandpa and Grandma Hexom in Decorah. When Paul was brought back he wouldn’t go to my parents and was afraid of them.

The Hexoms enjoyed the huge lawn and gardens. My daddy and the boys mowed and mother worked with the flowers. For a while there were couple of milk cows and some chickens, but when the boys grew up these took too much time. Pastor Rosholt helped daddy brick up an outdoor fireplace and this was used many times during the summers. There was always lots of company at Borgen, both family, speakers who visited and friends of the six kids.

William T Hexom and Charlotte Larson

Pastor Hexom and Charlotte had 6 children: Aubrey (m. Erling JordahI) Connie (m. Ransome Bolsonl: Eunice (m.WilburC. Stoen); David (m. Ann Poladna); Charles (m. Arlys Barth) and Paul (m. Carol Druecker).

Wilbur and Eunice had 2 children: Barbara and Bill. Barbara married Don Dowd after both graduated from Luther College. They have 3 children: Shannon, Melissa and Molly . Bill graduated from Iowa State in 1980 and is taking over the farm.

My dad was very seldom sick even with all the visits to hospitals and homes where people had contagious diseases. He had his gall bladder removed and after that never seemed to regain his strength. We were told that he had a strong heart and yet when he died Sunday 30 May 1965, the autopsy said they didn’t see how he could live so long with so much heart damage.

In reading through the many letters, articles etc., of my late father’s records, we see how highly he was regarded by all. He always had the top grades. His classmates both at Luther and Seminary refer to him as a scholar among men. He told me once he hadn’t had what some call a mountaintop experience but had always known since he was a young boy on the farm in Glenwood that he would someday become a pastor. He was raised with a deep faith from both of his parents and family. I cherish his memory, as my father, friend, counselor and my personal pastor. I am planning on doing a book on my father, Pastor Hexom, using his collection of papers, diaries and sermons that were in his office at Borgen.

Pastor Hexom’s best friend and colleague, Dr. A. E. Hanson from Moorhead, MN preached the funeral sermon using text of Romans 8:37. “I suppose Pastor Hexom has never preached a sermon that’s quite as penetrating as the one he preaches today; from a different pulpit to be sure, and under different circumstances, and without words, but to you today comes back a lot of sermons from a man who was humble before God. Pastor Hexom was very close to me. We entered Luther Seminary the same day and we roomed in the same room. We enlisted in the Navy for WWI on the same day. We came back out again at almost the same time and went back to the seminary. We graduated in the same class. From there our pathways kind of broke up but the same companionship, which is hard to describe, has always been there. It’ll be one of my fond memories of life here on earth, for he was a humble man, but he was a genius in scripture. At the seminary he was known as the man who divided Law and Gospel as perhaps no other man in our class of that day. At times we did get together and it wasn’t too long ago, about the first time he went to the hospital before his last illness. It was back to the same subject. To you as a parish—to you as a family—to me as a friend—the same story. What shall separate us from the love of Christ? Not even death. So in Christ, life, and life eternal."

Hicks, William M. and Ophelia (Fischer)

(William Marlow Hicks)

William Marlow Hicks was born 2 Sep 1918 in the hospital across the street from the 13-room brick home at 708 East Broadway, Decorah, IA where he and his mother, Ella (Marlow) Hicks, lived. His father, William Ross Hicks was born in Time, IL and died when Marlow was 3 years old. At that time Decorah was a small, pretty town of about 2,000 people and it was very common to hear people speaking Norwegian. His great-grandparents were John and Elizabeth (Headington) Marlow of Ohio and Winneshiek Co., IA; Moses M. and Mary (Daugherty) Hicks of Brown Co., OH. His grandparents were James and Lorena (White) Marlow of Decorah, and Carey and MaryAnn (Davidson) Hicks of Pittsfield, IL.