William Edward Hercher

William Edward Hercher passed peacefully on March 5, 2026, in Wichita of natural causes. He was 96 years old. He leaves his daughter, Leigh (Frederic) Hood of Tiverton, Rhode Island, granddaughter, Jillian (Kevin) Lamm of Wichita, son-in-law, Richard Waite of Wichita, as well as three great grandchildren. Bill is predeceased by his wife of 70 years, Nancy Legg Hercher, daughter Gretchen Hercher Waite, and grandson Justin R. Jones. For over 50 years Bill practiced as an industrial psychologist. He gave psychological tests to determine the interests, skills, and personality of applicants, helping companies across a range of industries to find the best person for sales, management, and technical positions. He also devoted a smaller part of his testing business to personal development, helping young adults to find a career that suited their personality when their career paths were not obvious. Over the years many of these personal development cases would call Bill to thank him for his help in navigating that career transition and praise him for the difference he made in their lives. Bill was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas on June 21, 1929, to Clarence Harold Hercher and Velma Owen Hercher. He was an only child but had several cousins who were like siblings to him. His mother was a serious and strict woman. Her sternness often collided with Bill's passion for baseball, especially on Sundays when he had to attend church twice a day. His mother forbade Bill from playing cards or any game with dice so on days when they could not play baseball, he and his cousins played card games with one cousin stationed as sentry at the window. Once someone spotted Velma walking towards Bill's aunt's house, the group quickly gathered the tablecloth by its four corners to whisk cards and dice out of sight. Bill's passion for music began around the fifth grade when he played the mellophone in the marching band. By the time he was in his first year of high school he had switched to the French horn. R. B. "Scrubby" Watson, director of the Pine Bluff high school marching band and orchestra, played a, significant role in Bill's life because of the expectations he set for the band and orchestra students. Bill could never imagine disappointing Scrubby. Classical music spoke to Bill from an early age, despite never having had exposure to music in his home. The first symphonic work he performed in high school was Beethoven's 7th Symphony, sparking a lifelong love for classical and romantic works, with Beethoven taking only a close second to his favorite composer, Johannes Brahms. Bill graduated from Baylor University in Waco, Texas in 1954 where he had met Nancy Legg, a harpist, in the Baylor Orchestra. To put himself through college and graduate school, Bill worked at a funeral home in Waco and lived in an apartment above with another Baylor student and the embalmer. In May of 1953, the deadliest tornado in Texas history since 1900, struck downtown Waco around 5:00 pm rush hour, killing 114 and injuring close to 600 people. Bill remembered that week of not attending classes and getting little sleep while helping families with the identification of bodies, even directing a funeral or two himself. Bill and Nancy married in 1954 and moved to Wichita, Kansas in 1957 with their firstborn daughter, Gretchen Maurine. Bill worked at APT, Associated Personnel Technicians, Inc., for 15 years before starting his own business in 1972. Throughout his working career, Bill was active in the Wichita business community, providing administrative management of the Wichita Executives Association (WEA), for 50years. Bill and Nancy were always involved in the Wichita music scene in some capacity, be it conducting the adult chorus at St. James Episcopal church or playing the recorder in friendly gatherings in their home. Ever the attentive listener and having an innate sense of how people work with others, Bill sat on the board of the Wichita Symphony Orchestra helping with conductor and executive director search committees over the 50 years he served on the WSO Board. One of those great decisions ended up being his best friend, Mitch Berman, for the 31 years Mitch served the orchestra as executive director, before his premature death at age 58. Mitch and Bill could slip seamlessly between talking baseball (Angels versus Cardinals, respectively) and Symphony Orchestra management news. Another search that turned into a long-time-close friend is the current WSO conductor, Daniel Hege, who joined the WSO 16 years ago. Daniel visited Bill and Nancy whenever he came to town and the two of them often said that Daniel is like a son to them. Our family has Bill and Nancy to thank for their shared love of classical music. Live performance of any kind was Bill's passion, believing nothing could replace the thrill of a live, artistic experience. He understood the dedication, discipline, financial support, and importance of encouraging young artists, that all go into the performing arts. He supported the performing arts whenever he could by sending boxes of fresh oranges backstage for month-long Nutcracker runs and would ask that his birthday and Christmas gifts instead go to the Wichita Symphony as a monetary donation. Bill was an early adopter of technology, beginning in 1964 when he learned Fortran programming language. He led the charge at APT for bringing them into the computer age for test scoring back when key punch cards stored data and calculations could take several days. In the 1970's he would carry a 60 lb. IBM portable PC with shoulder strap to a client's site to score tests. Later in life when asked what invention he found the most revolutionary he would always answer the iPhone, which in his last years with failing eyesight, he marveled at using Siri for random questions about the world, baseball scores, and weather. For the iPhone and PC technical support provided him when plagued by macular degeneration, we must thank Chris Demitras for his immeasurable generosity of time and IT ability, and his granddaughter Jillian for coming to his rescue without complaint. Not a day passed that Bill did not say how fortunate our family was to have Richard Waite, his son-in-law, in our family. In Bill's last year's especially, Richard came every day to visit him, bringing with him his clever puns, good cheer, thoughtful conversation, and unlimited generosity. Bill was also known for never complaining about his role as the designated harp mover given that Nancy, Gretchen, and granddaughter, Jillian, played harp and were always in need of transportation for the 80- pound, 75-inch-tall instrument. One of Gretchen's more challenging performance venues entailed moving the harp to the choir loft with the only access being up a spiral staircase. For this harp moving challenge, Bill took the Catholic priest up on his offer to help. Bill's ability in harp moving reached its pinnacle when for two consecutive summers he transported a harp in the Volvo station wagon 1,800 miles from Wichita to Camden, Maine (and back) for granddaughter Jillian to attend harp camp. Bill always challenged himself by keeping physically fit, playing racquetball into his 80s, and getting his pilot's license and learning to fly in his 50s, even taking up the French horn again in his 80s. He lived by the motto, to always leave a situation or place better than you found it, to never give up, and he was a dedicated father who would do whatever he could to support your dreams. He loved staying in touch with friends and family by emailing the Thought for the Day to hundreds of people, and usually someone would email him back to say how much they enjoyed that day's quote. A sampling for those who might need one parting Thought for the Day from Bill's collection, Parker on Growth The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. Dorothy Parker, 1893-1967, writer Bill's family is planning a private ceremony in April. Donations in Bill's memory may be made to the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, (wichitasymphony.org), 225 W Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67202.