Herman L Hoeh: Salute to a Pioneer (article - Origin of Nations

Herman L Hoeh. A salute to a Worldwide Church of God pioneer
sat along side of me on the passenger side with his head down much of the way. Later, I
learned that during that drive he was able to determine the present location of the Tribes of
Israel.
After arriving at a Church location he would often ask the pastor what sermon topic the
members needed. One pastor said to him, "You mean you are
not prepared?" He responded by saying, "I know my Bible."
After presenting his part during a refresher course in Pasadena he was asked by one of the
ministers if he could have a copy of his transcript? He looked puzzled. Another minister
replied to the question by saying, "He does not have a transcript." And he didn't. He was one
of the very few speakers who was able to speak clearly and concisely on any subject that he
felt the need to speak about or on any subject that was required at the time, such as the
Refresher Course.
Because of his speaking ability He was chosen by Mr. Armstrong to speak at the funeral of
Mrs. Loma Armstrong. Mr. Tkach chose him to officiate at the
funeral of Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong.
One last thing: Dr. Hoeh was a very giving person. I was one of the recipients of his giving in
those early years when times were rather hard and little money. His giving was known by
others as well. When Mr. Richard D. Armstrong and I began driving away from Pasadena on
our baptizing tour in 1958, he made the following comment to me: "We need to be more
giving like Herman Hoeh."
Though I could write many things about Dr. Hoeh, this is enough to show the brilliant mind
God had graced him with as well as being a very giving man.
I am truly saddened by his death for he had been not only my mentor in those early formative
years, but also my friend. We spent many, many hours
together and I learned much from him.
In regard to our close relationship, a man once asked him in my presence, if he did not feel
that his closeness to me could be a problem in regard to
respect for his office? He replied (words to this effect), "If there should be a problem, Mr.
Billingsley knows the office I have and would respect it."
And he spoke the truth.
Matthew Kalliman
1 Dec 2004
Back in about 1972 I asked Dr. Hoeh how he came to prove that God existed, that the bible
was the Word of God, and that WCG was the one true church. (I was a prospective member
at the time, a new AC student, and trying to prove these things to myself.)
Dr. Hoeh answered that he had been brought up by religious parents and had been taught to
read the bible from his youth. He always believed the bible. He gave the example that when
he read that God had created Eve from Adam's rib, he believed it.
As he grew older, he heard many religious preachers on the radio. He came to be able to
discern when they were biblically correct on certain points of doctrine, but incorrect on other
points. Before he heard Mr. Armstrong, he had already come to understand many points of
truth from the bible. However, he was not able to correlate all of these points of truth into a
cohesive whole pattern.
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