by Meghan Cooke
mcooke@salisburypost.comAn unusual politician. A hard-worker with a natural touch. A man who never forgot his roots.
That’s how former U.S. Rep. W.G. “Bill” Hefner is remembered by his co-workers and friends.
Hefner died Wednesday after he suffered a massive stroke that involved bleeding in the brain stem. He was 79.
“When people would meet Bill Hefner, it wasn’t a stand-offish thing,” said Bill McEwen, who served as Hefner’s chief of staff during his time in Congress. “They’d say, ‘There’s Bill.’ They’d call him by his first name. They’d come up and talk to him like he was a long-lost friend.”
And that was uncommon, said McEwen, who spent nearly 40 years working in Washington.
“I never saw that with other elected officials,” he said. “He was a most unusual man.”
McEwen said Hefner, a Democrat who was first elected in 1974, simply had a knack for relating to his constituents.
After representing Rowan County for 24 years in Congress, Hefner’s impact on the area is great, but his reputation as a representative of the common man is his legacy.
“Bill Hefner was a man of the people,” McEwen said. “He understood the working class ń the little man ń because he came from their ranks.”
McEwen said Hefner came from a poor family and worked his way to the top.
“And he never forgot his beginnings,” he said.
Despite the humble nature that those who knew him say characterized him, Hefner assumed a powerful role in Congress as a member of the House Appropriations Committee. He is credited with funneling millions into North Carolina.
He was an advocate for issues affecting the military. After touring military bases, he began a crusade to secure adequate housing for the troops, McEwen said.
And as chairman of the Military Construction Subcommittee, he oversaw many improvements to base facilities and housing.
His efforts did not go unrecognized. In 1999, the Department of Veterans Affairs named Salisbury’s W.G. (Bill) Hefner V.A. Medical Center in his honor.
Hefner often visited the hospital with the Harvesters Quartet, the gospel group he helped start in the 1950s, said Carolyn Adams, director of the medical center.
“At events honoring our veterans, he was often asked by them to sing,” Adams said in a prepared statement. “He did so willingly and created a warm bond with our nation’s heroes.”
Hefner retired in 1999 and returned to Alabama, his home state.
N.C. Rep. Lorene Coates, a Democrat representing the 77th House District, said Hefner was her congressman for many years.
When she worked for the N.C. Department of Agriculture, it was not uncommon for Hefner to contact her with questions about the effects of legislation on agriculture in the state.
When she ran for the N.C. House, Hefner traveled from Alabama to do a fundraiser for her.
“He was down to earth,” she said. “A politician of the people.”
Anne Anderson of China Grove worked for Hefner when he was singing with the Harvesters Quartet. She and Ellen Safrit coordinated the group’s singing schedule and concerts, she said.
“We became good friends,” a tearful Anne said Thursday morning in a call to the Post. “He wasn’t only a friend to me, he was a friend to the people.”
Many years after Hefner left the group to serve the 8th District in Washington, she went to see him address a gathering, she said.
“He put his arms around me and said, ‘Anne, we go way back,’ ” she recalled.
He was a friend to people in both political parties, she said.
“I’m upset,” Anne Anderson said. “I can’t believe he’s gone.”
Hefner is survived by his wife, Nancy, and his two daughters, Stacye and Shelly. Services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Albertville Memorial Chapel in Albertville, Ala.
Elizabeth Cook contributed to this story.