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December 2 Today in OPC History

Harold Willis Hillegas

2022

 

Harold Willis Hillegas was born on December 2, 1901 in Seymour, Wisconsin. As a young man, he came into contact with the Rev. Arthur Perkins. Hillegas once recounted his relationship with Perkins: “My first contact with him, I attended a church where he was preaching at Veefkind, Wisconsin. I was not a Christian at that time. I had been under his teachings in his ministry there for about a year and was converted in a Young People’s meeting that he conducted. About five years after my conversion, I attended school with him in Chicago at the Moody Bible Institute. Later I was married by the Rev. Mr. Perkins.” Hillegas served as a ruling elder and lay worker under Perkins’ oversight. Together, they evangelized and discipled the Indian tribes living near Shawano, Wisconsin from 1930 to 1935. Hillegas was also a founding member of the board of the Crescent Lake Bible Camp near Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Perkins was tried and suspended by the PCUSA for organizing this youth camp with the purpose of being free of modernist influences, Hillegas supported him throughout his trial, and testified on Perkins' behalf. During Perkins’ suspension from the ministry at the First Presbyterian Church in Merrill, Wisconsin, Hillegas preached and carried out pastoral duties. Harold and Esther Hillegas split the salary from the Merrill church with Arthur and Marie Perkins for eight months. Hillegas attended the first General Assembly of the OPC in June, 1936, in Philadelphia. He was also a founding member of the Presbytery of Wisconsin of the OPC. At the first meeting, he was elected to be the first stated clerk of the new Presbytery. Hillegas served the Community Presbyterian Church in Merrill during Perkins’ decline in late 1936. After leaving the OPC, Hillegas pastored various churches in Wisconsin and Illinois. Following his wife’s death in 1950, Hillegas worked as the caretaker of the Crescent Lake Bible Camp for eight years. He remarried in 1953, and he and his second wife, Alta, had two children. Cynthia and Craig Hillegas fondly remember their father: “He had a great sense of humor and a perennial twinkle in his eye. Campers from years ago will remember him loudly singing, ‘Come and dine the Master calleth, come and dine’ before meals in the Dining Hall. He loved people and wanted everyone to know his Lord.” In 1964, Harold and Alta moved to Medford, Wisconsin to serve at the First Baptist Church. Harold was pastor there until he died of lung cancer in April 1970.

 

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