Lois W. Hess, a Baltimore-based national gun control advocate, passed away on Sunday, Dec. 7. The Towson resident was 97.
A stay-at-home mother of three, Hess and her husband, Lewis M. “Dick” Hess Jr., became involved in advocating for gun control legislation after their 24-year-old son, Stuart Michael Hess, was killed in 1975.
“Lois and Dick became very involved with the establishment of a national organization later known as the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, where they became members of the board and financial supporters,” their family wrote on the website of Sol Levinson & Bros. “Lois testified before Congress and the Maryland legislature on gun legislation, as well as the establishment of various forms of victim’s rights legislation. She and other parents who lost children successfully lobbied the Maryland legislature to pass legislation that guaranteed the right of victims of violence, and their family members to receive written notices of parole hearings and the right to make impact statements at these hearings.
“Lois also remained very involved in organizations known as Compassionate Friends and Parents of Murdered Children as a counselor and friend to other parents who had lost children to acts of violence.”
In December of 2016, the Hesses lost another adult child, their youngest daughter, Carol Ann Hess, to gun violence in Atlanta. (Their eldest daughter, Joan Hess Gordon, passed away in 2022.)
“Lois and Dick were private about their own pain but continued to spend time with their friends and family members and enjoyed many trips in this country and around the world with Ann and Carey and other friends,” wrote their family. “They moved to Edenwald Senior Living in Towson where they met new friends and gathered together with old friends who moved there.”
Lois Hess is survived by her grandson, Scott Gordon, and son-in-law, Hunter Gordon; and several nieces and nephews and their children and grandchildren.
Lois Hess was predeceased by her husband of 76 years and their three children, as well as her sister, Ann W. Ries, and brother-in-law, E. Carey Ries.
Graveside services will be private. Contributions in her memory may be sent to the Center for Hope’s Child Advocacy Center, c/o LifeBridge Health, 2401 W. Belvedere Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21215, or the charity of your choice.
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