Avalon icon William Richardson Hill recently passed away. He was 99. The Islander published the first part of a rememberence written by his daughter in the May 26 edition. The following is the conclusion of the two-part series.
Avalon icon William Richardson Hill recently passed away. He was 99. The Islander published the first part of a rememberence written by his daughter in the May 26 edition. The following is the conclusion of the two-part series.
William Richardson Hill was born in Pasadena, on Aug. 7, 1917, to Fred G. Hill and Ethel Richardson Hill. His grandparents were early settlers of Pasadena, and had started a long tradition of Catalina summers in the late 1800s—the Richardson’s in 1878, and the Hill’s in 1890. Bill’s first summer on the Island was 1919, spent at 315 Catalina Ave. It was one of the three houses his Grandpa Hill built in 1908, on leased land from the Bannings.
In 1962, William Richardson Hill opened the Sears Catalog Store with his new wife Jeanne. They moved into his mother’s house on Eucalyptus where they raised their three children, Gina, Roger and Kathleen. Finally, owning The Old Turner Inn Bed & Breakfast, where he entertained guests with his stories and first hand history of the Island.
Bill amazed all with many stories about his life, like single handedly landing a 198 lb. marlin in a small skiff with a 6hp engine (without a gaff!), to encounters with historic characters – from playing catch with Jackie Robinson at PJC (with a football), to seeing Gandhi while on a remote river in India during World War II, to watching Einstein drop a daily letter in the mailbox on the corner across from his home near Cal Tech.
What Bill is most known for on the Island is his dancing. He loved to dance, and did so up until his 100th New Year’s Eve, in January 2017. His little known secret, only to be divulged now, is that his moves were much more charm than skill. While Mom often said his timing was off, his trick was to just let the ladies keep time and he’d handle the spins and the smooth passes.
To Me—Dad really lived in the Present. He enjoyed today and did what needed to be done today. And although he told many stories of the past, he did not cling to it nor have laments – he just shared the joy of it. So, when I found this the other day, I thought of him:
“On the Present Moment” by Alan Watts
This is the real secret of life –
to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now.
The art of living… is neither careless drifting on the one hand
nor fearful clinging to the past on the other.
It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique,
in having the mind open and wholly receptive.
We are living in a culture entirely hypnotized by the illusion of time, in which the so-called present moment is felt as nothing but an infinitesimal hairline between an all-powerfully causative past (sometimes burdened with pain and regrets or hurts that we cannot let go of)and an absorbingly important future – where sometimes we spend so much time worrying about what’s next that we have no present.
Our consciousness is almost completely preoccupied with memory on the one hand,and expectation on the other.
No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.
As such … tomorrow, and plans for tomorrow, can have no significance at all unless you are in full contact with the reality of the present –since it is in the present, and only in the present, that you live.
We think Dad lived beautifully in the present, shared the joy of the past, and let the future come naturally. Bill passed quietly in the wee hours of the morning on April 14, 2017, Good Friday. He was at his beloved home on Catalina Island, doing it his way. He so enjoyed all the friends and family that came to see him there the last few months. And he was bright and telling stories right up to the end. He was laid to rest in a small, beautiful gathering of family and friends at the family plot at Mountain View Cemetery in Pasadena.
He is survived by daughter Gina Hill; son Roger Hill and daughter-in-law Colette Hill, with granddaughter Caty Hill; daughter Kathleen Hill Carlisle and son-in-law Dave Carlisle with grandchildren Trevor Zeller, Kellen Zeller and Chelsea Zeller; step-daughter Lindy Sheldon and husband Jim Thomas, with grandson Max Maag; son-in-law David Zeller with wife Eileen Torres-Zeller and grandson David Luciano Zeller.
A celebration of life will be held on Catalina for his Island friends to gather, share a smile, and, of course, a dance (date to be announced).
Donations can be made in his name to the Avalon Booster Club, PO Box 2006, Avalon, CA 90704, which his beloved wife Jeanne helped found.
