Man of many talents
William Stanton Hume will be remembered as an artist, playwright, ventriloquist, author, journalist, animator, cartoonist and TV and film producer.
Mr. Hume died Saturday, June 27, 2009. He was 93.
He was born March 19, 1916, in Hinton to Henry and Dora Ruth Hart Hume.
He graduated from Hickman High School, where he was a member of the National Honor Society, in 1931; he was 15 years old.
He performed as a stage musician during high school and college. He worked as a commercial artist while attending MU and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1936.
After graduating, he returned to MU to produce and direct one-act plays for the theater department. One of his shows, “The Oracle,” earned national recognition as one of the 13 best one-act plays in the U.S. in 1937. The same year, he joined the staff at Stephens College, where he stayed until 1941.
Mr. Hume served in the Navy during World War II and continued to develop his talent as a ventriloquist and cartoonist, performing in USO shows and writing for Stars and Stripes, a military newspaper.
One of the ventriloquial characters he created during the war, Rosita, earned him the title, “the U.S. Navy’s most talented service man.”
When he returned to Columbia after the war to open his art studio, Rosita came with him. He and the character appeared in a performance at the 1947 Boone County Fair. The doll is now in the Vent Haven Museum in Somerset, Ky.
Mr. Hume married Mary Mason Clark of Maysville, Ky., in 1947.
He served out his term in the Navy Reserve and was reactivated in 1951. He spent the next year at the Naval Air Station in Yokosuka, Japan, as the petty officer in charge of damage control. He also used his journalism background by serving as the editor for The Oppaman, the station’s newspaper.
During his time there, Mr. Hume created his most famous cartoon character “Babysan,” which he later turned into a best-selling books about sailors and Japanese culture.
When he returned to Columbia the second time, he began work in the printing and publishing department of the Missouri Farmers Association. At MFA Insurance, now Shelter Insurance, he produced print and TV ads and created animated safety movies to sell insurance. One of his films, “Fair Game,” was honored with the Best-in-Class Award from Industrial Photography Magazine in 1964. He retired as the art director from Shelter Insurance in 1985.
He is survived by a son, David Hume of Hebron, Ind.; a daughter, Elaine Wrubel of Three Rivers, Mass.; three grandsons; two granddaughters; and four great-grandchildren.
His wife died earlier.
Visitation will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Services will follow at 11 a.m. at Memorial Funeral Home at 1217 Business Loop 70 W. Graveside services will follow at Memorial Park Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to the Columbia Art League, 207 S. Ninth St., Columbia, MO 65201, where Mr. Hume was a founding member.
