Heidelberg Athletics Hall of Fame
An avid sports fan, Jesse Williams was a fixture not only on the Heidelberg campus, but throughout the Tiffin community his entire life. A lifelong resident of Tiffin, Jesse attended Heidelberg and was a member of the baseball, football and basketball teams.
On the baseball diamond, Jesse won three varsity letters while spending two years at second base and one on the opposite side of the midfield at short stop. In 1930, he served as a team captain.
Jesse received a letter on the hardwood in his senior year after spending time with the traveling team. In football, Jesse was undersized at 5-foot-3 and 125 pounds, but gave it his all as a senior. He made the traveling team in 1929 and even saw time in the homecoming game versus Kent State.
Not only a devoted athlete at Heidelberg, Jesse worked as the Aurora business manager and the Kilikilik anonymous gossip columnist for two years. He also ran intramurals for the Excelsior and served as the organization's president his senior year.
Upon graduation from Heidelberg in 1930, Jesse was hired as Tiffin's first full-time sports reporter and editor. He retained that position when the Advertiser and Tribune merged several years later. Additionally, he was the first announcer at the Columbian High School Stadium where he was the voice for Heidelberg, Calvert and Columbian for 26 years. He received Heidelberg's Alumni Citizenship Award in its second year of existence and served as president and vice president of the National Alumni Association.
Jesse lived in Tiffin for almost a century before his passing at the age of 96 in 2004. He graduated from Columbian in 1926 and was a varsity letter winner in football and basketball as a senior. Jesse and his wife, Evelyn, married in 1934, and have three sons, Richard, '58, Jim and Bob, '70.
(This profile appeared in the 2009 Hall of Fame Banquet program.)Â
