Hecky Powell
“MY BROTHER”
A Heartfelt Story Written
I was asked to write about the passing of a very special
of now having a hole in my soul, and I’m not sure how I
can heal that.
Hecky Powell was a lot more than just a friend, a mentor,
an advisor for me, we shared a very special relationship
over the years we knew each other. We shared a
common belief in the ability of every person to succeed
at whatever they desire, if they were willing to work for
it. We shared a belief in a strong work ethic as a driving
force to success. We shared a passion in helping others
to develop that work ethic within themselves. This is
where the idea for the WE Foundation had its roots.
Hecky and I had tried to get the high school more
involved with the ever-growing population that was
not going to be college bound out of high school. They
needed guidance and direction to get into a good job
that didn’t need a 4 year degree. After a decade of no
progress, Hecky decided to endow the WE Foundation.
He called to tell me about his plan and said “Oh by the
way you’re on the new Board of Directors”. WE has
become a real success story for the young people who
have gone through the program.
Hecky and I both are known to speak from the heart. In
fact, no one ever had to guess what we actually thought
what we thought.
In fact, Hecky’s, statement about everyone being a
made him Evanston famous. We proudly shared the
EvanstonMagazine.net
for our community, and our involvement in multiple
community organizations.
On a very personal level Hecky was special for me,
several years back when my young son began his
3 year battle with cancer, Hecky checked in almost
know if my son, Shelley, or I need anything. Anytime
ask was how my son was doing before we began our
conversation. And when we lost our son to cancer
Hecky was there for me to talk to and try and make
sense of my loss.
Over the years I have been honored with a number of
civic awards from various organizations but the one I
cherish the most is the award that Hecky and Cheryl
gave me two years ago on behalf of the Forrest E.
Wood Foundation because it represents the shared
belief in working hard for what you achieve and
reaching back to help others to succeed.
Now over the past few weeks Hecky has been written
about in all our local papers, in social media and even
as far away as the New York Times. To My Surprise
The New York Times carried an article. The focusof
the article was about his life and the belief that “no
one succeeds on their own and we should always be
willing to reach out to help others”. I don’t know what I
could add to all the accolades that have been written
about my friend.
The one thing I can say is “Hecky was an incredibly
special person, there are not many like him in this
world, and I was blessed to call him “my brother”.
by
Dick Peach.
He was Hecky Powells best friend. A former member of the Leadership Evanston Steering Committee & Board. A
longtime member of the Rotary Club of Evanston as president twice. Assistant Governor for the regional Rotary
District. Dick has been involved with the Evanston Community Foundation as a former member of the Leadership
Evanston Steering Committee & Board. past president of the Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the City of
Evanston-Minority, Women and Evanston Small Business Committee, part of the West End Business Association
and one of the founders of the Evanston Small Business Association.
/EvanstonMagazine.net