Richard A. Hill

Richard Allan Hill, 86, passed away peacefully in his Fremont, California home on Friday evening July 21st, with his beloved wife, Mavis, by his side. Richard was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 10, 1931, to John and Lida Hill. He spent his youth in Minneapolis. He was the last of six children with many of his siblings grown and married while he grew up. The closest sibling was his brother John, 8 years his senior. He had one other brother, Donald, and three sisters, Dorothy, Julia, and Verna. Since his siblings were so far from him in age, some of his nephews and nieces were only a few years younger than him and grew up almost as siblings (i.e. Pat and Edward). Times were hard during the 30’s and Richard went to work while still in junior/high school to help out his family. This was especially important after the loss of his father when he was 17. Some of his jobs included management of a newspaper station, short order cook, theater usher, and working at a ball park. He held up to 3 jobs at a time while going to high school. Upon completion of high school, Richard started his love of traveling by “riding the rails”, an adventure where he learned a lot about human nature. He came home after a few months and proposed to his high school sweetheart, Mavis. They were married on June 24, 1950, and enjoyed 67 wonderful years together. Richard went to work at Honeywell, Minneapolis, but soon enlisted in the Air Force to join the Korean War forces on May 1, 1951. He was a depot mechanic on bombers and traveled to the UK, North Africa and different locations in the U.S. At Castle Air Force Base near Merced, California, he was joined by Mavis and his first child, Becky. Life was poor but happy. Service Branch; Rank; Area Command: Air Force; A/1C(T)1; 10th AF ConAC, Selfridge AFB, Mich. Having completed his tour of duty, Richard was honorably discharged from the Air Force on January 31, 1953 at Castle Air Force Base in California. After the service, he returned to Minneapolis where he worked at Honeywell again as an inspector. Richard and Mavis bought a small house in Spring Lake Park where they welcomed their second child, Linda. The time in Minnesota was filled with lots of friends and family. Large holiday celebrations and picnics at the lakes were the norm. Richard built his own outboard motor boat with the help of his nephew, Edward, and they taught everyone how to water ski. In 1959, just as his third child, Scott, arrived, he moved the family to Rancho Cordova, CA, for an exciting new job with Aerojet in the field of metrology. He later moved into Quality Engineering. His fourth child, John, was born a few years later in Rancho Cordova. Life was exciting during the 60’s and Richard enjoyed most of his hobbies during this time. He bowled, square danced, and played cards with friends and family. At one point, Richard was the president of the Jets and Jills Square Dance Club at the Aerojet facility. In 1968, he took a job in Niagara Falls, NY, for Bell Laboratories. He continued to work in Quality Engineering, specifically tool inspection and the secondary standards lab. He spent 3 months in New Orleans as a quality inspector for the newly developed Hovercraft. He did well and was offered a position to manage a customer’s company as the third highest person in the company. The call to California was stronger though, and he moved back to the Bay Area. He first worked for Xerox where he had a position as a Quality engineer and then as a Manufacturing Engineer. He continued this work at Amdahl ending up as the manager of an advanced methods engineering group. In California, he added golf, tennis, and racquetball to his list of activities. Throughout life, one of his favorite activities was traveling and driving, particularly across country. When he retired in 1993, he was finally able to travel more extensively. Richard and Mavis traveled to England together and then to Australia. The trip to Australia included one of Richard’s sisters, Verna, and one of his brothers, John, with their respective spouses. A wonderful time was had by all. Richard had also traveled to Japan and Ireland with his work. Richard’s greatest times were driving all over the U.S. during the warm spring to fall months. Richard and Mavis spent months researching their genealogies and visiting relatives, some for the first time. They would follow genealogy clues traveling from state to state in a camper, usually stopping at a state park campsite and joining in with the rest of the campers for great evening fellowship. They continued these summer time adventures for more than a decade. His last few years were spent keeping up with politics, the economy, and the escapades of his growing family. He joined a gym and made several friends as he and Mavis worked out. His favorite time of the day was when he went down to the large Fremont park. At first, he would walk around the lake, but as his health declined he would sit and watch the wildlife, the people, and their pets. This activity probably reminded him of his younger years in Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes. Through the years, Richard was often surrounded by his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren celebrating marriages, sharing his love of dancing, adventuring to places like Disneyland, enjoying family reunions and gathering for holidays. He always encouraged a trip to the park, a game of cards or story-telling to pass on many wonderful family stories and memories. Richard had a way of always encouraging his family to love life, work hard, enjoy adventure, love one another, and make the world around them a better place for all. Funeral Arrangements: Services will be provided by Fremont Chapel of the Roses mortuary, 1940 Peralta Blvd. A viewing will be held at the mortuary between 10:30am and 11:30 am followed by a military gravesite service at Irvington Memorial Cemetery from 12:00 to 1:00. Join us following the service for a time of food and fellowship, as we continue to share our memories of Richard. Richard was the beloved husband of Mavis, and four children, Becky Hill of Diamond Bar, CA; Linda (Joe) Grech of Fremont, CA; Scott (Vikki) Hill of Castle Rock, CO; & John (Allison) Hill of Buellton, CA. He is also survived by 10 grandchildren: Megan (David) Stovall of Lucas, TX; Nicholas Grech of Roseville, CA; Danielle (Howard) Hunt of Palo Alto, CA; Devlyn (Dustin) Roberts of Colorado Springs, CO; David (Jennifer) Hill of Angier, NC; Jamie Hill of Denver, CO; Deborah (Andrew) Fuller of Santa Barbara, CA; Morgan Hill of Diamond Bar, CA; Katherine Hill of Buellton, CA; and Bruce Hill of Buellton, CA. In addition, he is survived by 3 great-grandchildren: Liam and Kallen Stovall of Lucas, TX; Halee Roberts of Colorado Springs, CO. May we take this opportunity on behalf of the family to express our gratitude for your thoughts and kindness.

Richard A. Hill

January 10, 1931 - July 21, 2017