Bob Hettler is gone
We learned some sad, sad news in the past few hours. Yesterday, Bob Hettler passed away suddenly. Please come back here for more information and a fuller tribute to this remarkable person—a great camp leader at Camp Fitch and Camp Wawayanda, a key camp director turning a pivotal period at Frost Valley, one of the funniest and sweetest people you’d ever meet. He and Kay Hettler were “recruited” by Halbe Brown to come from Halbe and Jane’s beloved Camp Fitch near Erie, PA, and from the Youngstown OH YMCA—in the early 1970s to help bring new leadership to Frost Valley. Bob and Kay served as camp directors of Camp Wawayanda for Boys and Camp Henry Hird for Girls, side by side, for several summers. They also led 2-week bike trips, and filled in various other roles. After their time at Frost Valley they returned to Camp Fitch where they continued to devote their time each summer, right up to the present. The photos below were taken during their recent visits to Frost Valley. The third picture, taken in the dining hall in the early 190s, shows Bob along with other Camp Wawayanda directors across the decades—as they led the lunch grace during one of the first big staff reunions.
When information is available about any memorial events or project, we will post it here. In the meantime, the hearts of all their Frost Valley friends and colleagues are with Kay and her family and Bob’s brother Bill Hettler and Bill’s family, Amy Atkinson, Ken and Sue Barton, as they struggle with this sudden loss.
ADDITIONAL INFO: The memorial service will be Sunday, November 19 in the afternoon—in Alliance, Ohio, at the First Methodist Church. (Precise time yet to be determined, but probably either 1 or 2 PM.)
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