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 Raymond Jerome Hill, a lifelong resident of Gadsden, passed away on Thursday, May 3, 2012, at the age of 89.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Dora Gene Rattray Hill; his parents, Marvin and Annie Lancaster Hill; brothers, A.C. and wife, Margaret, Odell and wife, Aubie, Gerald, Guice; sister, Virginia and husband, B.H. Grigsby; sister, Irene Hill; sister-in-law, Ethel Claire Rattray Sharp; and brother-in-law, Clarence Kirkley.
He is survived by his son, Bruce Hill; daughter and son-in-law, Gail and Danny Owens of Guntersville; three grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; sister-in-laws, Jean Hill, Maine Young, Lillian Rattray Kirkley; brother-in-law, David Sharp; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Raymond was a 1943 graduate of Gadsden High School where he was a four-year letterman in football, serving as alternate captain in 1941 and co-captain in 1942. During his last three years of high school, the team lost only one game. His junior year he was elected class president.
Shortly after his senior football season he left school early to serve his country in World War II. After serving a year in the infantry, he transferred to the Army Air Corps. He was a tail gunner on a B-17 bomber during the war. He completed 35 combat missions over Germany. He was a member of the 305th Bomb Group Members Association and the 8th Air Force Historical Society.
After returning from World War II, Raymond went to Georgia Tech on a football scholarship. After his freshman year, he transferred to Jacksonville State and played football there for one year. In 1947, Raymond began his working career at Allis Chalmers Manufacturing Company for 17 years. In 1965, he began working at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., retiring in 1985.
For 17 years, from 1959 to 1975, Raymond served as a volunteer coach of Eura Brown Elementary School's pee-wee football, basketball, baseball and track teams. In 1969, at the football team banquet, the parents of his players and parents of his former players from the previous 10 years, raised enough money in secret to surprise Coach Hill with a brand new 1969 Chevrolet Impala as a reward for his service to the youth of Eura Brown School. In 1999, the community center next to Eura Brown Elementary School was named the Coach Raymond Hill Community Center in his honor. Each year at Eura Brown Elementary School, a Coach Raymond Hill Good Sportsmanship trophy is presented to a fifth grade boy and girl who have been chosen worthy by classmates and faculty.
In 1992, Raymond was inducted into the Gadsden High School Sports Hall of Fame and in 2005, he was inducted into the Etowah County Sports Hall of Fame. In 2010, he was inducted into the Gadsden-Etowah Patriots Hall of Honor. He was an active member of First Baptist Church of Gadsden for over 75 years and was a member of the Rayburn Hickman Sunday School Class. He served in the past as a deacon and Sunday school teacher.
Pallbearers will be former pee-wee football players he coached. They are Wes Acee, Don Beard, Tim Cloud, Pete Cobb, Johnny Johns, Mark Jones, Robin Roberts and Kim Whitt.
The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 tonight at Collier Butler Funeral Home. The funeral will be Monday at 2 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Gadsden. The Rev. Larry Fuhrman, the Rev. Randy Pope and Dr. Al Hill will officiate. Interment will follow the service in Crestwood Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to Gadsden First Baptist Church, 235 S. Fifth St., Gadsden, AL 35901.
Special thanks to Lawley Premier Hospice Care and special caregivers, Nancy McCain and Katie Herring.
Online condolences may be made at www.collier-butler.com.
Published in The Gadsden Times from May 5 to May 6, 2012
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Arrangements under the direction of:
Collier-Butler Funeral Home
824 Rainbow Drive | Gadsden, AL 35901 | (256) 543-2140
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Gadsden, AL (256) 543-2140
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