EWGS Presidents C. William (Bill) Hire

This is the forty second in the series on the Presidents of EWGS leading up to the 75th anniversary in 2010. See the previous posts on Samuel Pool Weaver, Leora Cookingham Thiel, Susan Marie West Jack, Ruth Churchill Austin, Alfred Denman, Florence Ballou Brown, Harriet Jefferson Pinkham, Mary Elizabeth Dow Maltbie, Achsah Maltbie Rawlings, Lee DeGolyer Patchen, Susie Elliott Faubion, Edith Webb Nelson, Carrie Teats Lartigue, Guy Alfred Clumpner, Grace Ellis Woodward, Mabel Rue Frederick, Nell Hartman Peel, Edwin Allan Poole, Mabel Enid Rice Conrad, Helen Elizabeth Osborne Rowe, Dr. Herbert Hoover Osborne, Jane Merritt Logie Webster, Beatrice Cutler Mitcham, Marie E. Stone Larson, Lorena May Saylor Wildman, Raymond J. Fisher, Grace E. Kelso Garner , Catherine P. Cornehl Hyslop, Barbara J. Wirt Clarkson, Ruby L. Simonson McNeill, Jeanne J. Jones Holder , Jeanne M. Polumsky Coe , Maxine E. LeGrant Pence, Mary Kay McGlothlin Gant, Elizabeth Dale Hastin Smith, Bette Butcher Topp, Gordon Dean Clay, John R. Zeimantz, Shirley E. Penna-Oakes, Marvelene E. Roach Carney, and Susan Beamer



Claude William (Bill) Hire was EWGS President 2007-2009, the only EWGS President to serve three consecutive terms as EWGS President. Early by-laws did not allow any officer to serve more than two consecutive years as an officer, but that had been changed to four consecutive years before Bill became EWGS President. Bill also acted as treasurer after the death of Gary Taylor, so Bill was very busy until a new treasurer was found. Bill was born in Wolf Lake, Indiana to Thomas C Hire and Hermona J Magnuson. Bill grew up in Ligonier, Indiana and upon graduating from High School in 1965 he went to Indiana University and graduated in 1969 with a degree in Business Administration. Bill enlisted in the Navy in 1969 and spent his enlisted career in Hawaii working for the Commander Submarine Forces Pacific as a radioman. Bill got out of the Navy in 1973 and in 1974 applied to Navy Officer training. Bill was accepted and was commissioned an Ensign in October 1974. In December 1974 he married Marianne Iwasa whom Bill had met while stationed in Hawaii. Bill served as a Surface Warfare Officer for 17 years and retired from the Navy in 1991 as a Lieutenant Command. Bill went back to school in 1991 at the University of Idaho and graduated in 1993 with a B.S. in Cartography. He went to work for Spokane County in 1994 as a GIS Specialist doing computer mapping and analysis and retired from county employment in July 2010. We raised two children, Peter and Katharine.
Bill always had a passion for learning my family history. His genealogy researching really took off in 1985 after a couple of my aunts gave me handwritten pedigree charts for my Hire and Bender ancestors with accompanying handwritten notes with family group information for several families on one sheet. Bill needed a magnifying glass to decipher the tiny print. But that is all it took and Bill was off and running. After moving to Spokane in 1995 he joined EWGS. Bill was membership chairman for a year and in 2003 joined the EWGS board as Junior Trustee.
The Spring 2007 seminar was Halvor Moorshead on May 5, 2007 at the Spokane Public Library and it was bring your own lunch and cost $20.00. Also in May EWGS passed a motion to host the 2009 Washington State Genealogical Society Conference, and in June EWGS decided to hold the WSGS Conference at the Davenport Hotel and Bill signed the contract with the Davenport. We tentatively scheduled Halvor Moorshead and Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak for the speakers and planned on 200 people. The WSGS Board that had lost a ton on the last conference they held were all over EWGS for such an expensive venue and for two national speakers, so Halvor agreed not to come and we just had Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak for the national speaker. Still two more years to the WSGS Conference and so we planned a lot and hoped for 200 people. The October workshop was October 6, 2007 at the Southside Senior Center, cost $17.00. Next year the October workshop was October 4, 2008 at Mukogowa Fort Wright with Barbara A.H. Nuehring, cost $25.00. We liked Barbara so much that we had her back in May of 2010. The 2009 WSGS Conference was September 11-13, 2009 and Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak was great. The beginning genealogy classes were overflowing, and I think the last count was 199 people. Every one was surprised by the Davenport, and we nearly broke even after all the bills were paid. I paid $160 for the three days and had a great time.
Bill was an energetic EWGS President and always willing to help others, have a good retirement Bill.