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Jim Dexheimer, 58, a long-time member of the Hannibal City Council and currently mayor pro tem, died Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 17, at a Columbia hospital from injuries he suffered in a fall at his South Side home.
The Hannibal Fire Department incident log shows that emergency responders were called to 401 Smith St., which is Dexheimer’s home address, at 5:27 p.m. Tuesday. His funeral arrangements have not been announced.
Dexheimer represented the South Side residents as Fourth Ward councilman for over two decades. He first joined the council in 1983. After briefly leaving the council, he returned in 1987 and has been a part of city government ever since.
Third Ward Councilman Kyle Wilson, who has served with Dexheimer since 1985, said the entire city will miss his leadership. “As far as I’m concerned, that is a seat that you can’t fill. ...It has to do with experience, knowledge, education and the courage to take stances when you are standing there by yourself. A lot of time he and I would take stances on our own.” He said at time they were out-voted, “but we didn’t give up.
“If he thought somebody was being treated unfairly, he would stand up in a heartbeat and defend them, and that is something that’s going to be sorely missed in that council chamber.” Wilson added that “Jim also had the experience to sit there quietly when words weren’t going to matter. ...You wouldn’t hear a peep out of him for a couple of council meetings, and then something would get his goat and he’d go. ...The thing I always admired about him was he never would do anything to question his integrity. It was most important to him..
“Jim was an outstanding councilman, and he bled for the Fourth Ward,” Wilson added. “And his main interest after the Fourth Ward was the city. He loved serving the city. He didn’t single anybody out. ...He involved everybody and everybody knew they were represented. He was fire board chairman for a lot of years and had a great deal of respect for all the firemen. His dad was also a fireman.
“Jim and I grew up together on South Side and have been friends almost all our lives,” Wilson said. On the council, he added, “we both enjoyed serving the community, giving back.”
Councilman Jason Janes, the current leader of the fire board, said he has a lot of respect for Dexheimer. “I don’t think there’s anyone on the council that cared more for the city and the employees,” Janes said. “He was really an advocate for city employees. He was always looking out for them. ...Jim would fight for the employees - the working man. He was always there for his neighborhood, and South Side has always been well represented.”
Janes also has known the Dexheimer family a long time, explaining he goes to church with Dexheimer’s brother, Dave. Also, Janes’ wife’s grandfather, Doug Cox, was a former councilman on South Side, when the council had two members from each ward.
Janes served one council term and did not file for re-election, but later sought election after being encouraged by Dexheimer.
Also, he said, “I missed the interaction and knowing what is going on with the city. I looked at him (Dexheimer) and Kyle Wilson as mentors. There’s a lot of history and wisdom there.”
He said Dexheimer will be missed but not forgotten. “I’ve learned a lot in the four and a half years I’ve worked with him. I feel I took a lot away, and I’m saddened it is shorter than it should have been.”
Fire Chief Tim Carter called Dexheimer, “one of our city elders, with the history that he has with all the departments. ...You knew where you stood with him.”
Regarding the fire department, Carter said, “they couldn’t have a stronger voice. One of his sayings was, ‘It’s not my job to run your department. It’s my job is to run interference for you when necessary, so you can accomplish your job.’ And from the city’s side, it’s the same thing. He would take on those issues no one else wanted to grab ahold of.”
“The citizens of Hannibal have lost a real ally,” said Mayor Roy Hark, who earlier worked with Dexheimer when Hark was fire chief. Dexheimer was “very passionate about the Fourth Ward and cared what happened to the people there, but he also fought hard for the city employees,” Hark said.
“He wanted to make sure the fire department had the best equipment and training, and he wanted to make sure the city workers as a whole had adequate pay and had good working conditions. He was very labor-oriented. ...Jim believed that you have to give good wages and benefits.
“I knew when he voted he truly believed what he voted on,” Hark said. “I just enjoyed working with him. He was my mayor pro tem, and if I couldn’t make something, he would go in my place.
“I think the city has moved forward” while he was councilman, Hark said. “He wanted to get the Main Street bridge done and it’s on the way. I’m just sorry he won’t be here to see it.
“I considered him a true friend and my sympathy goes out to the family. My thoughts and prayers are with them. He was a very fine man.”
City Manager Jeff LaGarce said, “Jim is going to be sorely missed. He was very well respected here, and this is a personal tragedy.”
“We grew up together and have been friends since about 1968,” said Bill Hatton of Dexheimer. As a South Side resident, he added, “he represented us well. He was one of those people you could go to with a problem, and he would look into the problem and get back to you.
“Our friendship went a lot farther than that,” Hatton said. “Jim and I went to school together, hunted and fished together. I spent untold thousands of hours in a duck blind with Jim. That was our first love and still is our first love, chasing the ducks in the fall of the year. You really get to know a person very intimately when there’s nobody else out there. It was mainly the two of us, or once in awhile we would grab one of his sons or one of our other buddies.”
Sharing a favorite memory, Hatton said, “we were duck hunting at one of the lakes and I stepped into a hole. I went under water, and the only thing left floating was my hat, and I had my shotgun held up above the water. I came back up a spitting and sputtering and he said, ‘Hatton, you can’t use a sinkbox to hunt ducks with. That’s illegal.’
“There was a side of Jim that most people never saw. He was truly one of our family members. My children grew up with him. They called him Uncle Jim and my grandchildren called him Uncle Jim. It’s a terrible blow to my entire family.”
“Jim and I sat next to each other for nine years and served on the fire board for eight years together,” said Councilman Jim Behymer. Each one represents their ward, he added, “but not only do we represent the people in our ward but also all the people. Jim more than anyone represented the whole community.”
He explained that Dexheimer encouraged the council to increase salaries for several city departments, not just the fire and police, also the streets, parks and recreation, and board of public works. “They all work hard and need to be compensated. ...As far as caring, I think Jim in his heart cared about this community and loved this community. That’s the reason he continued to run and he continue to be elected. He was a person who really cared. He loved it enough to serve in public office.
“It was always about helping people, making conditions better. We were doing a good job, but he would say, ‘we can do better.’ He is going to be missed.”
Jim Dexheimer, 58, a long-time member of the Hannibal City Council and currently mayor pro tem, died Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 17, at a Columbia hospital from injuries he suffered in a fall at his South Side home.
The Hannibal Fire Department incident log shows that emergency responders were called to 401 Smith St., which is Dexheimer’s home address, at 5:27 p.m. Tuesday. His funeral arrangements have not been announced.
Dexheimer represented the South Side residents as Fourth Ward councilman for over two decades. He first joined the council in 1983. After briefly leaving the council, he returned in 1987 and has been a part of city government ever since.
Third Ward Councilman Kyle Wilson, who has served with Dexheimer since 1985, said the entire city will miss his leadership. “As far as I’m concerned, that is a seat that you can’t fill. ...It has to do with experience, knowledge, education and the courage to take stances when you are standing there by yourself. A lot of time he and I would take stances on our own.” He said at time they were out-voted, “but we didn’t give up.
“If he thought somebody was being treated unfairly, he would stand up in a heartbeat and defend them, and that is something that’s going to be sorely missed in that council chamber.” Wilson added that “Jim also had the experience to sit there quietly when words weren’t going to matter. ...You wouldn’t hear a peep out of him for a couple of council meetings, and then something would get his goat and he’d go. ...The thing I always admired about him was he never would do anything to question his integrity. It was most important to him..
“Jim was an outstanding councilman, and he bled for the Fourth Ward,” Wilson added. “And his main interest after the Fourth Ward was the city. He loved serving the city. He didn’t single anybody out. ...He involved everybody and everybody knew they were represented. He was fire board chairman for a lot of years and had a great deal of respect for all the firemen. His dad was also a fireman.
“Jim and I grew up together on South Side and have been friends almost all our lives,” Wilson said. On the council, he added, “we both enjoyed serving the community, giving back.”
Councilman Jason Janes, the current leader of the fire board, said he has a lot of respect for Dexheimer. “I don’t think there’s anyone on the council that cared more for the city and the employees,” Janes said. “He was really an advocate for city employees. He was always looking out for them. ...Jim would fight for the employees - the working man. He was always there for his neighborhood, and South Side has always been well represented.”
Janes also has known the Dexheimer family a long time, explaining he goes to church with Dexheimer’s brother, Dave. Also, Janes’ wife’s grandfather, Doug Cox, was a former councilman on South Side, when the council had two members from each ward.
Janes served one council term and did not file for re-election, but later sought election after being encouraged by Dexheimer.
Also, he said, “I missed the interaction and knowing what is going on with the city. I looked at him (Dexheimer) and Kyle Wilson as mentors. There’s a lot of history and wisdom there.”
He said Dexheimer will be missed but not forgotten. “I’ve learned a lot in the four and a half years I’ve worked with him. I feel I took a lot away, and I’m saddened it is shorter than it should have been.”
Fire Chief Tim Carter called Dexheimer, “one of our city elders, with the history that he has with all the departments. ...You knew where you stood with him.”
Regarding the fire department, Carter said, “they couldn’t have a stronger voice. One of his sayings was, ‘It’s not my job to run your department. It’s my job is to run interference for you when necessary, so you can accomplish your job.’ And from the city’s side, it’s the same thing. He would take on those issues no one else wanted to grab ahold of.”
“The citizens of Hannibal have lost a real ally,” said Mayor Roy Hark, who earlier worked with Dexheimer when Hark was fire chief. Dexheimer was “very passionate about the Fourth Ward and cared what happened to the people there, but he also fought hard for the city employees,” Hark said.
“He wanted to make sure the fire department had the best equipment and training, and he wanted to make sure the city workers as a whole had adequate pay and had good working conditions. He was very labor-oriented. ...Jim believed that you have to give good wages and benefits.
“I knew when he voted he truly believed what he voted on,” Hark said. “I just enjoyed working with him. He was my mayor pro tem, and if I couldn’t make something, he would go in my place.
“I think the city has moved forward” while he was councilman, Hark said. “He wanted to get the Main Street bridge done and it’s on the way. I’m just sorry he won’t be here to see it.
“I considered him a true friend and my sympathy goes out to the family. My thoughts and prayers are with them. He was a very fine man.”
City Manager Jeff LaGarce said, “Jim is going to be sorely missed. He was very well respected here, and this is a personal tragedy.”
“We grew up together and have been friends since about 1968,” said Bill Hatton of Dexheimer. As a South Side resident, he added, “he represented us well. He was one of those people you could go to with a problem, and he would look into the problem and get back to you.
“Our friendship went a lot farther than that,” Hatton said. “Jim and I went to school together, hunted and fished together. I spent untold thousands of hours in a duck blind with Jim. That was our first love and still is our first love, chasing the ducks in the fall of the year. You really get to know a person very intimately when there’s nobody else out there. It was mainly the two of us, or once in awhile we would grab one of his sons or one of our other buddies.”
Sharing a favorite memory, Hatton said, “we were duck hunting at one of the lakes and I stepped into a hole. I went under water, and the only thing left floating was my hat, and I had my shotgun held up above the water. I came back up a spitting and sputtering and he said, ‘Hatton, you can’t use a sinkbox to hunt ducks with. That’s illegal.’
“There was a side of Jim that most people never saw. He was truly one of our family members. My children grew up with him. They called him Uncle Jim and my grandchildren called him Uncle Jim. It’s a terrible blow to my entire family.”
“Jim and I sat next to each other for nine years and served on the fire board for eight years together,” said Councilman Jim Behymer. Each one represents their ward, he added, “but not only do we represent the people in our ward but also all the people. Jim more than anyone represented the whole community.”
He explained that Dexheimer encouraged the council to increase salaries for several city departments, not just the fire and police, also the streets, parks and recreation, and board of public works. “They all work hard and need to be compensated. ...As far as caring, I think Jim in his heart cared about this community and loved this community. That’s the reason he continued to run and he continue to be elected. He was a person who really cared. He loved it enough to serve in public office.
“It was always about helping people, making conditions better. We were doing a good job, but he would say, ‘we can do better.’ He is going to be missed.”
