Beloved longtime Central College dean of students Bill Hinga passed away Tuesday at age 88. Hinga served Central for 38 years, welcoming generations of students to the college.
Hinga graduated from Hope College in 1951 and later received a master’s degree in secondary education from Western Michigan University. He and his wife, Connie, a 1953 Hope grad, were married in 1951. All four of their children attended Central: Catherine Haustein ’76, Lynn Branderhorst ’79, Ann Klein and Tom ’82. Haustein is professor of chemistry at Central. Connie died in 2013.
Hinga accepted the position of dean of students at Central in 1965 and he retired as vice president of student affairs in 1993. He also served as Central’s men’s track and field coach from 1976-81, guiding the Dutch to their first Iowa Conference title in 1979. Hinga was highly visible on campus and students viewed him with great affection. He was known for his optimistic outlook, warm smile and bad jokes.
“Bill Hinga was the student’s friend,” said president Mark Putnam. “He was a gifted administrator yet his relationship with Central’s students and helping them navigate life’s challenges was always his primary focus. He somehow was able to serve for 38 years yet always maintain the bright spirit of a 19-year-old sophomore.
Hinga with former placement director Larry Embling ‘68.
“He was one of this institution’s truly memorable and colorful figures. He is recalled fondly by hundreds of Central alumni who knew him as Dean Hinga, and his impact on their lives and this college continues to be felt today.”
Marjorie Giles, who worked alongside Hinga as associate dean, said he was more than a boss; he was a compassionate friend who made all his colleagues feel valued. “He respected his colleagues and he trusted them,” she said. Hinga was open and encouraging not only to staff, but also to students, welcoming them to campus with enthusiasm and becoming part of their lives.
“I think he was able to work with students who perhaps didn’t have the personal skills others had and help them to grow,” Giles said.
Hinga was a passionate supporter of Central and the Pella community. He won the ISPA (Iowa Student Personnel Association) Distinguished Service Award in 1987 and was a Pella Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame Inductee in 1996. At Central, the Hinga Conference Room in Maytag Student Center is named in his honor. He was named an honorary alumnus in 2007.
President emeritus Ken Weller, a fellow Hope College graduate and western Michigan native, served with Hinga at Central for 21 years.
“I’ve known Bill Hinga and his family very well for at least 80 years,” Weller said. “He was a tower of strength. In the agonizing years of student unrest in the 70s, he loved and respected the students and interpreted their needs to the faculty and administration. They, in turn, had Bill’s wisdom to explain to trusting students the needs of a viable educational institution.
“Bill was a warm and caring person, but with a firmness to which students responded with respect, as is evident in the lives covering generations of adults today who remember and praise him for a diligent life of service.”
Visitation will be held beginning at noon Friday at Garden Chapel Funeral Home in Pella. A memorial service will take place at 6 p.m. Saturday at Second Reformed Church in Pella.
Memorial gifts may be made to the Bill and Connie Hinga Scholarship Fund at Central College.