Hugh Purcell Highsmith, 94, of Fort Atkinson
Hugh Purcell Highsmith, 94, of Fort Atkinson, died on Sunday, June 7, 2009, at Fort Memorial Hospital in Fort Atkinson.
He was born June 22, 1914, in Duncanville, Ill., to Harry J. and Fannye (Purcell) Highsmith, and grew up in southern Indiana.
He graduated from Owensville (Indiana) High School in 1931, and from Indiana University-Bloomington in 1936 with a degree in journalism. He came to Wisconsin in 1938 to take a job with the Western Advertising Agency of Racine.
He married Doris M. Morter of Milwaukee on April 15, 1944. In 1945, they moved to Fort Atkinson, where Highsmith became general manager of the National Agricultural Supply Company (NASCO). The following year, he and a partner purchased the company, and Highsmith became president and chief executive officer.
In 1956, after 10 years as president, Highsmith sold his interest in Nasco and started The Highsmith Co., Inc. Among other activities, the new business published Farmer's Digest magazine (until 1969) and began mail order marketing of books, supplies and furnishings to schools and public libraries. In 1965, the company built a new facility just east of Fort Atkinson that served as corporate headquarters for the next 43 years.
The business prospered, and The Highsmith Co., Inc. became one of the country's premier suppliers to schools and libraries, at one time employing more than 270 people. Highsmith served as company president until 1987, when he was succeeded by his son, Duncan.
After his wife Doris died on Oct. 9, 1987, Highsmith established the Doris M. Highsmith Memorial Fund within the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation to provide continuing support for the First Call for Help information service. He married Frances (Jones) Paddock on Oct. 28, 1989.
Highsmith was active in many civic and charitable organizations, and served on the board of directors of the Dwight Foster Public Library, PremierBank and the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation. He also organized and funded The Highsmith Family Foundation to support local and Jefferson County charities. He was a Rotarian and an active member of St. Peter's Episcopal Church.
In the 1960s, he helped start the Wisconsin/Nicaragua Partners of the Americas, Inc. and always continued his interest in fostering relations between Fort Atkinson and its sister city Puerto Cabezas. The organization remains active today. He enjoyed participating in international agricultural exchange programs and meeting with farmers in the former Soviet Union, Egypt and South America.
Highsmith was recognized on numerous occasions for his civic activities. The Fort Atkinson Area Chamber of Commerce selected him for its Community Service Award in 1975 and the Lions Club for its Distinguished Service Award in 1989. He also received the Community Service Award in 1992 from the Wisconservation Club.
On April 4, 2009, he was honored by the Fort Atkinson Historical Society - of which he was a longtime member, supporter and past president - for his efforts to preserve local Indian mounds, and to promote research and public education about local Native American history.
In the late 1950s, Highsmith aided archaeologists in the excavation of a Hopewell Indian village site discovered on land he then owned on the Rock River near Fort Atkinson. In the 1990s, he purchased and donated to the county a site near Lake Koshkonong that is now the Jefferson County Indian Mounds and Trail Park.
His 1997 book, "The Mounds of Koshkonong and Rock River," published in cooperation with the Fort Atkinson Historical Society, details the history of local Indian mounds and Native American cultures, as well as mound surveys by early Wisconsin archeologists.
He is survived by his wife, Frances; sons, Duncan (Ana Araújo) Highsmith, and Tod (Joan Braune) Highsmith of Madison; stepdaughters, Sarah Paddock of Amherst, Mass., Elizabeth (Roger) Mitten of Chicago, Ill., Catherine (Jonathan Hagstrum) Paddock of Menlo Park, Calif.; grandchildren, Cyrus (Anna) Highsmith of Providence, R.I., Garth (Lauren Manes) Highsmith of Bainbridge Island, Wash., Sam (Nermine Hassan) Highsmith of Evanston, Ill., Wynter Highsmith of Phoenix, Ariz., Samantha Highsmith of Durham, England, and Maya Hagstrum and Anne Mitten; and great-grandchildren, Mina and Habiba Highsmith of Evanston, Ill., and Frances Highsmith of Providence, R.I.
He was preceded in death by his first wife, Doris; son, William Highsmith and daughter-in-law, Karen Highsmith; his brother, Howard Highsmith; and sisters, Helen Massey, Betty Foster and Mary Jane Stone.
Memorial services will be held at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 302 Merchants Ave., Fort Atkinson, on Thursday, June 11, at 11 a.m., followed by burial in Evergreen Cemetery.
A visitation will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, June 10, at the Dunlap Memorial Home, 604 S. Main St., Fort Atkinson.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Fort Atkinson Historical Society, 401 Whitewater Ave., Fort Atkinson, or to the Dwight Foster Public Library, 102 E. Milwaukee Ave., Fort Atkinson.
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