Robert Bruce Hess, Sept. 19, 1936–Jan. 20, 2026

HOUGHTON — Robert “Bruce” Hess, a third-generation missionary, was born Sept. 19, 1936, in Zamboanga City, Philippines, to Robert and Viola Hess.

His family served in the remote jungles of Mindanao amid turmoil. Bruce was just five years old when World War II began. He remembers hiding in the jungle for 13 months before the family was captured. For the next 2.5 years, the Hess family of seven and many others were prisoners of war, enduring hunger and hardship in concentration camps.

Bruce had already escaped a poisonous snakebite when he again stared death in the face in the prisoners’ camp. He and his brother were digging for cassava roots when a guard pointed a rifle at them, thinking they were trying to escape. In that moment, Bruce first heard from God, “I have saved your life. I want you to work for me.” After 2.5 years of imprisonment, American paratroopers rescued them amid chaotic gunfire and hidden snipers.

At age 13, Bruce fully surrendered his life to Christ. A few weeks later, he left the Philippines to attend Hampden DuBose Academy and later college in the United States. Bruce earned a bachelor’s from Houghton College, a bachelor’s in missions from Nyack College (where he met Donna Spiers), and a master’s from Alliance Theological Seminary.

In 1959, while engaged to Donna, Bruce traveled to Colombia on a summer mission trip, during which God confirmed his call to missions. Bruce and Donna were married on Sept. 3, 1960, and soon after, One Mission Society (OMS) accepted them as missionaries to Colombia.

In 1961, Donna gave birth to their first child, Robert “Robby” Bruce Jr., who passed away in February, 1962. Their second child, Matthew “Mateo,” was born in 1962 in Costa Rica while they were in language school. In 1963, the family of three moved to Medellín, Colombia, where Bruce and Donna began their missionary careers. They welcomed another boy, Glenn, in November, 1963, and their daughter, Linda, in October 1965.

During the next 20 years in Colombia, Bruce pioneered and pastored several churches, taught at the biblical seminary, opened a bookstore, led evangelism and church planting, and served in leadership. In 1984, the Hesses moved to Ecuador for two years, where Bruce taught at the newly formed OMS seminary and directed the student work program.

In 1987, Bruce and Donna moved to the U.S., where they served as campus representatives for OMS at Houghton College (now Houghton University) in Western New York until 1988, when they relocated to Allentown, Pa., to serve as OMS regional directors for the Northeast. In 2005, they returned to Houghton College to resume their OMS ministry as campus representatives, mentoring, discipling, building relationships and promoting opportunities to serve with OMS among college students.

In July 2018, Donna and Bruce retired from OMS. The Hesses remained in Houghton and, although retired, continued to serve the community. In 2022, Donna passed away. Bruce continued to minister until his final breath.

Family and friends may gather from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, at the Kopler-Williams Funeral Home, 21 N. Genesee St., Fillmore. A funeral service will be held Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, in the Houghton Wesleyan Church. Burial will be in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.

Memorials if desired may be made to One Mission Society, Intercultural Outreach Center, c/o account 408290, to further projects from the Greater Western New York area to the world!

Online condolences may be made at www.koplerwilliamsfuneralhome.com.