My Background

Harry G. Hoyt, a Devoted Family Man, Celebrated for His Success

Press Release November 22, 2022

Mr. Hoyt has experienced success with Deere & Company and the Commission on Ministry of the Presbytery of East Iowa

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(This biographical profile was written in two parts: A press release by “Marquis Who’s Who” which covers educational, business, church and community with some corrective edits by Harry, and additional paragraphs to cover family. Who’s Who also created a video which has some errors but is basically accurate.)

Backed by vast experiences across personnel management, human resources and religious services, Harry G. Hoyt has excelled in a fruitful career spanning nearly five decades.

DAVENPORT, IA, November 22, 2022 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Harry G. Hoyt has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.

Backed by vast experiences across personnel management, human resources and religious services, Harry G. Hoyt has excelled in a fruitful career spanning nearly six decades.

Upon earning a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Carleton College in 1959, Mr. Hoyt entered the U.S. Navy as a line officer. Four years later, he received an honorable discharge from the military and began his first career with Deere & Company in the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois, where members of his family had also been employed. For his first three years, he served as an engineering analyst with John Deere Harvester Works. He later acted as a systems analyst, foreman, training coordinator and manager of personnel for the company through 1970. Mr. Hoyt remained employed with Deere & Company until 1989, acting as manager of salary administration overseas, manager of compensation worldwide and manager of employee benefits until changing career paths.

Mr. Hoyt began his second career volunteering with the Commission on Ministry of the Presbytery of East Iowa and became an ordained elder in 1992. The Presbytery consisted of 72 Presbyterian churches in eastern Iowa. He substantially reorganized the operation of the Commission, mediated conflicts within churches and developed and wrote a child protection policy and the Pastor Compensation Program that replaced the then-current compensation system in use by all churches in the Presbytery. His method was adopted in 1998 and is still in use today. In 2001, he was appointed co-moderator for the Commission on Ministry, after which he became a salaried staff consultant in 2003. He also served one year as Moderator of the Presbytery. Mr. Hoyt notably served the Presbytery for 21 years, retiring from this second career in September 2018.

Throughout the course of his careers, Mr. Hoyt has also owned several small businesses, including apartment and office buildings, a car wash and a gas station. He was also a founder and director of the United Saving Association for seven years and president for two of those years. During his tenure in religious service, Mr. Hoyt has also contributed to the First Presbyterian Church of Davenport as a member and chair of the church's governing and personnel committee. Additionally, Mr. Hoyt chaired a committee responsible for raising more than $2 million in funding for major renovations and then directed their installation on behalf of the church. Likewise, he developed and wrote significant amendments for the church's Development Fund to turn it into a foundation with four funding sources.

Long dedicated to civic advocacy, Mr. Hoyt has acted as a board member for various organizations and committees that seek to support his community. Involved with his local chamber of commerce, he has dedicated time to the Vera French Community Mental Health Center, where he served for a period as secretary, founder and president of the Quint Cities Drug Abuse Council for six years and served on two task forces to advise the governor and legislature regarding drug-related legislation. In response to the economic downturn in the late 1980s, he co-chaired, "Quad Cities Vision for the Future" a strategic planning committee of community leaders, among other leadership roles to his credit.

Known to be a prolific writer within his primary work, Mr. Hoyt has also exhibited his skill with the written word on a more personal level. He is the author of various publications, including a book describing his wife's battle with cancer through a bone marrow transplant titled "Back from the Brink: A Love Story." He combined two of his hobbies of photography and travel by writing 20 photographic journals containing several thousand pages of photos and commentary on the people, animals in the wild and scenery of seven African countries, one in Europe, several cities in the U.S.A. plus a number of family events.

Upon reflection, Mr. Hoyt credits his success in multiple fields to his ability to take risks, build relationships and learn from his own mistakes. Additionally, he credits the influence of various mentors in his life, including his wife Gay Isaacson Hoyt, his grandmother, Dorothy Lischer French, his uncle, George T. French and headmaster of his high school, George School, Richard McFeely. Mr. Hoyt is particularly honored to have a gymnasium named after him, along with the multiple plaques he has received over the years from Deere & Company, the Council on International Compensation, United Way and the Quad Cities Drug Abuse Council.

He married Gay Isaacson on a very hot 16 August day in 1968. He brought 4 children from a previous marriage into the union, Andy, Erin, Matt, Paige. The Superintendent of Rock Island Schools said she had her own “Head Start” program. Gay adopted the four children. They had two additional children, Shannon and Cameron. They partnered in family and business in a story of true love. Gay was given less than two years to live after being diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow with no known cure. She had a high-risk bone marrow transplant that gave her twenty-five more years. She passed away on 11 April, 2014. They had been married forty-five years.

A few years later he met Lois Boyer, who had lost her husband about the same time Gay died. They developed a close friendship The relationship avoided the isolation caused by Covid. Lois also enjoys visiting other places, so they have traveled together both here and overseas.

A family man to his core, Mr. Hoyt aspires to remain an instrumental figure in his own family, particularly with his grandchildren. Looking toward the future, he plans to host even more family reunions and share his years of professional wisdom.

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