Lillian Rachel HILL

HILL, Lillian Rachel
91, died peacefully in her sleep at the Lincoln Meadows Care Center on September 2, 2013. She was the youngest of seven children born to Finnish homesteaders Matt and Tyyne Kultala on their Brevator, MN farm in 1922. After high school and a post grad course, she worked as a Northwest Bell Telephone operator in Duluth. In 1943 she went to Los Angeles and worked making PT boats at Terminal Island. She married her sweetheart, seaman Olavi Hill, in 1944 in Duluth. Soon they both got jobs on a Great Lakes bulk carrier, he as a wheelsman and she as a porter and then a cook. After two years of sailing they moved to California and started a family. He worked as a boilermaker and she as a homemaker. In 1994 they moved to San Jose and in 2004 'Grandma Lilly' joined her family in Lincoln. She always adored her family and friends, long walks, cooking, polka music and Scrabble. Lillian was preceded in death by Olavi, her beloved husband of 52 years, her two brothers and four sisters. She is survived by son Owen Hill (Gail), grandson Joe Hill of Incline Village, NV, daughter Paula Stollmeyer (Mike), granddaughter Amy Perry (Adam) of Lincoln, granddaughter Kristi Rizzo (Jim) of Livermore, and six great-grandchildren. A celebration of her life is set for late September.
Inurnment will be at Santa Clara Memorial Park, Lincoln, CA.