Wesley A. Hoch ’54

ROCKPORT – Wesley A. Hoch, 72, founder of North End Marine in Rockland, died unexpectedly at his home here of natural causes, late Thursday, December 23, 2004.
Born in Rockland, April 23, 1932, he was a son of Raymond A. and Ruth Koster Hoch. Educated in local schools, he was a 1950 graduate of Rockland High School and attended Severn Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. The next four years, Wes studied at Maine Maritime Academy, graduating in 1953 with honors and a BS in marine engineering.
Following several years at sea as a merchant marine on an around-the-world crew, Wes joined the Navy where he served until 1960, when he re-enlisted for merchant maritime service. In the middle of 1961, the Navy called him back for duty in Vietnam. By November of 1963, as reported in the Navy Times, Wes made Lieutenant Commander. He received the Bronze Star with Combat and Distinguishing Service and the Vietnamese Medal of Honor, an unheard of accomplishment for an American.
Boston Sunday Globe reporter Orville Schell, in an October 21, 1963 article titled “A Legend in Remote Seas: Maine Navy Lieutenant Leads Viet Junks,” wrote of Mr. Hoch: “He has a rare rapport with the junkman with whom he works. They, in turn, are devoted to him. For Dai Wei Hoch (their name for him) is one of them – 24 hours a day. He wants no escape to separate quarters, clean restrooms, Western food, military clubs, and air conditioned rooms when 5 O’Clock rolls around. Unlike so many other American advisors in Vietnam, Hoch lives, sleeps, eats and fights 24 hours a day, every day, with his junkmen. He refuses to accept any privilege he cannot give his men. He says he hates to see stuff sit in Saigon warehouses rotting when his men are cold at night, wet during the day, undernourished, and manning junks that are short of arms.”
While serving in Vietnam, Wes was the contact responsible for many humanitarian gestures including building a hospital on the remote island of Phu Quoc, sending blankets, medicine and toys to the Vietnamese.
Upon returning from Vietnam, Lieutenant Commander Hoch was honored by the City of Rockland, during a testimonial banquet held at the former Thorndike Hotel.
During the next months, Wes wrote a book which was never published, telling of his experiences in Vietnam.
Seeking a warmer climate, Wes found himself in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he learned fiberglass laminating thru employment with Morgan Yachts. He advanced to Supervisor of the glass department at Morgan where he was employed five years.
In 1972, he returned to Maine and with the help of several former Morgan Yacht employees, teamed with Eric White, Arthur Berry and designer Henry Scheel to fabricate a high-end 45-foot sailboat. After failure of that venture, Wes stored the remnants of the Scheel project until with $50.00, he and a partner started building 23-ft. seining dories, the St. Pierre, and sold them to American and Canadian fisherman. The business eventually flourished.
In 1979, under Wes’ leadership, North End Marine moved to its present location in the Rockland Industrial Park. Wes led the growth of that company in what then seemed to be questionable production ventures including; generator sheds, mogul figures, church steeples and mold making until in the mid 1980s, the company legitimately claimed itself the largest fiberglass marine tooling company in the world.
In 1995, in what Wes himself called a “Natural Marriage”, he sold the business to Sabre Yachts. Under that new management team the company name was changed to North End Composites.
Since that time Wes continued as a consultant with the company and kept an office overlooking the tool-mold shop. He worked at the plant until noon on the day of his death.
In a May and June 2000, article by Andrew Rusnak, Editor of Composites Fabrication magazine, Rusnak said of Mr. Hoch: “Half the crew he treats as sons, and they treat him as a father who holds a story book trust.”
Wes’ brother David described him as an unassuming man, who was concerned for the welfare of others.
Wes was the 1999 recipient of Composite Fabrication Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He was a founding and devoted member of the Humane Society of Knox County.
Wes was pre-deceased by a brother William K. Hoch in 1972. Besides his six cats, many friends and co-workers, Wes is survived by his brother, David R. Hoch and his wife Isabel of Rockland, his sister-in-law Shirlene Hoch Gosline and her husband Norman of Gardner, two nephews, David W. Hoch and his wife Jennifer of Rockland, William K. Hoch, Jr. of Gardner; two nieces, Jolene Collins of Gardner, Ellen Hoch of Massachusetts; a great nephew, Samuel David Hoch; a great niece, Andrea Collins; one aunt, Pauline Barton of Bowling Green, KY.