© 1996 Carolyn Kendall
© 1996 The Fellowship for readers of The Urantia Book
By Carolyn Kendall
An era came to an end June 25, 1995. With the death of William Merchant Hales, 87, the last of the founding trustees of Urantia Foundation, the early years of Foundation history no longer have an eyewitness. Hales passed away after a long illness at his home in Winnetka, Illinois.
The thought of Hales brings to mind the word “gentlemanly.” His gracious manners and courtly ways fostered dignity in the Foundation and its goals. His tenure as president, from 1950 to 1973, occurred during a period of calm, gradual development within the Urantia movement. Due to illness, Hales retired in 1973, after which he served as a Trustee Emeritus. The copyright infringements that began in the mid-1970s increasingly occupied the Foundation’s attention, and Hales was reappointed to the Board in 1975, serving for another 10 years.
In a widely circulated memo dated June 7, 1990, Hales outlined the histories of the Urantia organizations: “About 1940 the leaders of the Forum started working with qualified attorneys to draw up the proper and necessary documents for creating what would be Urantia Foundation and Urantia Brotherhood. … In January 1950 five individuals were selected to apply to the State of Illinois for a charter to create the Urantia Foundation. The charter was granted and these five individuals became the initial five trustees and officers.”
Hales was one of the five individuals, and he was elected president by his associates.
He laid special emphasis in his memo on the fact that there was never supposed to have been any tie between the Foundation, whose responsibilities included publishing and translating The Urantia Book, and the Brotherhood, which was to undertake the social outreach duties and dissemination of the teachings. He wrote, “In the formulation of the [Foundation and Brotherhood] documents during the 1940s it was stressed that the two subsequent organizations were not to be connected in any way.”
He added, “… [On January 3,] 1955 the Urantia Brotherhood came into being by the execution of a proper document signed by 36 Forum members who became the Charter Members of Urantia Brotherhood.”
Marian Rowley, in a letter dated January 4, 1955 to the late Julia Fenderson, described what came next in an eventful meeting of the preceding day, “… [B]efore we broke up, the five trustees of the Urantia Foundation held a short meeting with all of us as an audience. Bill Hales read a provisional declaration of intention stating that since the decision was in their hands as of January 1, 1955, they intended to proceed with the publication of the book unless they were formally estopped before February 11,1955 … It was a most exciting day …”
Forty years have passed since The Urantia Book was published and ready for distribution on October 12, 1955. Were it not for the dedication and fortitude of early leaders, as well as generous financial contributions by persons such as Hales, we might not have the book in its present form.
Hales was a dissenter in the Foundation’s 1961 decision to allow the French translator of The Urantia Book to publish his edttion in three separate volumes. This was a decision that came to haunt the Trustees in later years. Extra copies of the third volume, consisting of Part IV, The Life and Teachings of Jesus, were printed by the translator, which was a breach of contract with the Foundation. Further publication of the French book was suspended for seven years while the French courts adjudicated the case.
Although never previously taking a public stand on controversial issues, Hales stood up in a gathering of General Councilors and society representatives in Nordic Hills, Illinois on November 18, 1989 to explain why he had just resigned as Trustee Emeritus, an honorary position he held from 1985 to 1989. He had opposed cancellation of the Confirmatory Licensing Agreement by the Foundation of the Brotherhood’s (now Fellowship’s) right to use the name Urantia and concentric circles symbol. He also spoke against the rising authoritarian trend of the Foundation leadership at that time.
Hales was born in Oak Park, Illinois, the son of G. Willard and Carrie Hales. Both parents were members of the Forum. He was a graduate of Williams College. He and his wife Mary Lou celebrated their 62nd anniversary last February. Mary Lou served as chairman of the Brotherhood’s Charter Committee, installing many new societies. Their son John is a long-time employee of the Fellowship and a former president of Urantia Brotherhood. Their daughter Lynn Jacob lives in Winnetka. Bill and Mary Lou have five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Hales’s business career was spent at Hales and Hunter, an animal feed manufacturer. The company was founded by his father, and Hales held positions as secretary, treasurer, president and chief executive officer, retiring in 1969. Hales was a life trustee of Beloit College (from 1939), receiving an honorary degree of Doctor of Law in 1989.