William W. Hiltz

William W. Hiltz was Mayor of Toronto in 1924. During his term, he introduced time clocks for Toronto city workers.

Prior to becoming mayor, Hiltz was Chairman of the Board of Education. He changed the "S" of his name to "Z" for personal reasons before he became Mayor of Toronto.

He started his career as a high school teacher and then as a building contractor. Sometimes he would take his students out to the construction sites to dig foundations by shovel. It was before the proliferation of digging machinery. He accumulated so much real estate properties that he became the second highest tax payer in Toronto metro. The T. Eaton Company founder of Eaton Department Stores was the highest and the two were friends.

He and his son Bill Hiltz were the superintendents at Danforth Methodist Church where they presided over the largest Methodist Sunday School in Canada.

Originally from Georgetown, Ontario, Mayor Hiltz died in 1935 or 36 at age 63 as this newspaper article reported.

Throngs Pay Tribute To Ex-Mayor HiltzFuneral Service in Danforth United Church Attended by Many. A tribute to the career of public service of the late W. W. Hiltz, ex-mayor of Toronto, was recorded in the large attendance at his funeral service held this afternoon in Danforth United Church, where the deceased had been superintendent of the Sunday school for a quarter of a century. Four of his predecessors assisted the minister, Rev. Gordon Sisco.

Mayor McBride, members of city council, members of the board of governors and staff of the Toronto East General hospital, and representatives of numerous other organizations helped to swell the crowd that filled the church. Rev. J.J. Coulter of Sarnia, associated at Danforth with the late Mr. Hiltz for 16 years, paid tribute to his sterling qualities. His achievements as a teacher, business man, public figure and faithful servant of the church were traced by Mr. Sisco. Dr. R.J.B. Simpson, , Rev. C.W. Watch and Rev. G. E. Large were the other assistants. Interment took place at Mt. Pleasant cemetery. The pallbearers were two brothers of the late Mr. Hiltz, George and Herbert, John Brick, W. Wiggins, T. E. Richardson, and R. G. Elliott. This is the death notice: HILTZ - Suddenly on Wednesday, February 26, 1936, at his residence, 682 Broadview Avemie. William Wesley, dearly beloved husband of Annie E. Laidlaw, in his 63rd year. Funeral Saturday, February 29th, from Danforth United Church, Danforth Avenue, 3 p.m. Interment Mount Pleasant Cemetery.

William W. Hiltz descended from the Hilts family that previously immigrated from Europe -presumably Germany. The Hilts families left the Palatinate part of Germany with the other Palatinates, because of the wars and famine, and came to the New World. The ancestors of Hiltz arrived in America in the early 1700s. They were pushed back into the western part of New York where they farmed in the Mohawk Valley area. During the American Revolution in 1779, Joseph Hilts as a small child was brought by his grandfather Joseph Petrie to the Niagara area of Ontario, Canada. In Ontario, Joseph's sons received land grants in Esquesing and Erin Townships. That is where they homesteaded and is where William W. Hiltz was born.

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
before=Charles A. Maguire
title=Mayor of Toronto
years=1924
after=Thomas Foster