A distinguished career in law

• Hedeen

Daily Globe file photo William Hedeen is pictured in 2009 at the Hedeen, Hughes and Wetering law offices in Worthington. Hedeen died Monday at his home.

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WORTHINGTON — During his 62 years of living and practicing law in Worthington, William “Bill” Hedeen garnered a reputation as a non-assuming man of intelligence, integrity and ultimate professionalism — both in his career and personal life.

Hedeen, 89, died Monday at his home.

Hedeen arrived in Worthington in 1949, having been hired fresh out of law school by local attorney Arnold Brecht. They formed a partnership that evolved over the years into the firm of Hedeen, Hughes and Wetering.

“He was a man of absolute integrity, consummate honesty,” described colleague Larry Hughes, who joined the firm in 1965 and is now retired and living in Chisago City. “He was the consummate gentleman. I never heard him utter anything by way of a disparaging word about anyone. He was highly respected by all members of the profession, both locally and elsewhere.”

A history major — an interest that continued throughout his life — Hedeen graduated in 1943 from Carleton College in Northfield. He spent four years at the National Institute of Public Affairs, followed by three years of active duty Army service and then 10 years as a reserve officer in the counter-intelligence corps.

“I was in Okinawa when the bomb was dropped,” noted Hedeen in a 2009 Daily Globe story marking his 60th year in the legal profession.

After graduating from the University of Minnesota Law School, Hedeen was admitted to the bar on June 30, 1949, and then started his career in Worthington. In the early years of practice, Hedeen “did a little of everything,” including litigation cases, but the latter part of his career was focused largely on probate and estate law.

“As time moved on, his focus went more in the direction of assisting families with financial estate-planning matters, which was probably due to Arnold Brecht’s demise, as Arnold was heavily involved in those matters,” explained Hughes. “Bill carried on the tradition that Mr. Brecht had started.

“Bill was a student of national and world affairs, and as a result, he was intensely interested in his community and his country,” said Hughes, who considered Hedeen his mentor and cherished friend throughout their long association.

In addition to his law practice, Hedeen was active in community affairs, including involvements in the Noon Kiwanis Club, Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce, Worthington Area Industries and Worthington Area YMCA.

“He also did a lot of work for people that nobody knows anything about, people who couldn’t pay him, who just needed his help,” credited colleague Bill Wetering, who joined the firm in 1987. “He did that routinely — just saw people who showed up here without an appointment, or longstanding contacts of his who just trusted his judgment but didn’t have any sort of means. That’s in addition to the institutional pro bono work he did for different organizations.”

Hedeen had served on the board of the Adrian State Bank since 1969, continuing in recent years as a director emeritus.

He religiously attended all the board meetings for four decades, noted the bank’s president, Dave Eickhoff, missing only when he was away for the winter.

“He was always very good to the bank, always kept the bank’s interests at heart,” said Eickhoff. “All of us here will greatly miss his advice and counsel and his friendship.”

For many years, Hedeen maintained an office in Adrian and kept regular hours there every Wednesday.

“He and my dad were good friends, and when we were in the old bank, Bill had an office upstairs, and he would come over every week, fire up the oil stove, and he and dad would go to the café for coffee, and by the time they got back the room was warm,” Eickhoff recalled with a chuckle.

Until his recent illness, Hedeen had continued to be active professionally and civically, although he and wife Katherine had escaped Minnesota winters by heading to Florida for a few months every year and were avid international travelers. The Hedeens have two daughters — Margaret Sabongi and Janet Gulden — and three grandchildren.

“In 2009, when he came back to Worthington, he was ready to quit practicing, and he asked me what I wanted him to do,” remembered Wetering, who continues operations at the law firm. “I asked him if he would continue, and he immediately scheduled 30 hours of continuing education — went up to the University of Minnesota and took the classes he needed to continue and set about practicing all of 2009. And I don’t think I twisted his arm.

“That’s the thing about him — one of his hobbies was learning,” Wetering continued. “Lots of us learn something because we have to learn it to do what we’re supposed to do or do what we do better; he learned things for the pure joy of learning, and I don’t think that ever left him. He also thought a lot about his family and made it a point to get to his grandchildren’s events and support their education, and he was very proud of his daughters and their accomplishments.”

A memorial service for Hedeen will be 1 p.m. Saturday at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Worthington. Burial will be in Fort Snelling National Cemetery, Minneapolis.

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