REBECCA "Becky" HAMILL

HAMILL REBECCA ELLEN HAMILL "Becky" Rebecca "Becky" Ellen Hamill, prominent DC caterer, passed away peacefully at the Delaware Hospice Center in Milford, Delaware on January 24, 2017. Despite a number of health issues and complications, Becky maintained the zest for life, warm hospitality, and magnetic personality she was known for throughout her entire life. Becky was born in Williamson, West Virginia on July 11, 1951 and spent her early childhood in the nearby coal-mining town of Cinderella. She was the second of four children. When she was six, her family moved to Huntington, West Virginia where Becky loved living near her grandparents, aunts, and cousins on both sides of her family. The Hamill family moved to Roanoke, Virginia three years later for Becky's father's job with Norfolk and Western Railway. Becky often shared vivid memories of taking the train with her sister, Susan, as young children to visit family back in Huntington during the summers by themselves. It may have been there, in the dining car of the N&W-with its white tablecloths, porcelain bowls of consommé, and BLT sandwiches-where Becky began to cultivate a love for hospitality. Becky spent a happy childhood in Roanoke on Avenham Avenue, and graduated from Patrick Henry High School in the Class of 1969. She attended Stratford College in Danville, Virginia, where she majored in Political Science and served as Student Body President, graduating in 1973. A college friend says that Becky was known around Stratford as "the person who made things happen," a sentiment shared by anyone who has ever spent even five minutes with Becky. After graduation, Becky moved to Washington, D.C. where she worked in the White House under both the Nixon and Ford administrations, and ran logistics for events including the U.S. Department of Labor's Bicentennial Celebration in 1976 under Secretary of Labor Bill Usery. Becky's work with Bailey, Deardourff & Associates and the Washington Office of the Governor of Virginia fed her passion for politics, but she continued to feel a pull towards her true calling: entertaining. With the encouragement of friends and family, she founded her own catering business in 1983. Becky Hamill and Company saw thirty years of cocktail parties, political fundraisers, weddings, and "fabu" celebrations of all shapes and sizes. In between catering parties and orchestrating events, Becky loved traveling with dear friends and became regarded for infusing the most ordinary activities with an element of surprise-which Becky often noted was the key to being a good hostess. After three decades of catering, Becky retired to the beach in Lewes, Delaware, where she relished the small-town life of farmers' markets and neighbors stopping by just to say hello. She stayed busy; she deepened her passion for painting, won several blue ribbons in the town's annual tomato recipe contest, and proudly won an Honorable Mention in the Washington Post's Top Tomato Contest. Much to the delight of her family and friends, she recently penned a cookbook that includes her favorite recipes and paintings. Becky's always-bustling kitchen in Lewes knew nary a stranger; it had the energy of a laboratory with creations bubbling on the stovetop, and the warmth of the local bar where the gal behind the counter always knows exactly what you want to drink. "Miss Hamill" was the eternal hostess. In the last decade of her life, Becky faced breast cancer, several strokes, and a number of other health issues, yet she confronted them with a grace and fortitude matched only by her sense of humor. Becky was preceded in death by her father, Thomas Charles Hamill, Sr., and her older sister, Catherine Hamill. She is survived by an adoring family, including her mother, Barbara Hamill Bagley, her brother, Thomas Charles (Charlie) Hamill, Jr., both of Roanoke, Virginia, and her sister Susan Hamill Ward and husband Roger of Sunbury, North Carolina. Becky's nieces are Whitney Ward Birenbaum, husband Simon, and son Milo of Baltimore, Maryland, and Madison Ward Willis and husband Keith of Raleigh, North Carolina. Becky also leaves behind a network of friends and extended family, not to mention a legacy of stories, Becky-isms, recipes, and tales of wild adventures in and out of the kitchen that are only believable with her at their center. A celebration of her life will be held at St. Peter's Episcopal Church on 2nd and Market Streets, Lewes, DE on Friday, January 27th at 11 a.m. and burial at Evergreen Burial Park in Roanoke, Virginia on Monday, January 30 at 11 a.m. In Lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Delaware Hospice Center or the Lewes Volunteer Fire Department. The family appreciates the continued love and care from the many caregivers in Becky's life, for their love and commitment to bringing joy to her life. A celebration of her life will be held at St. Peter's Episcopal Church on 2nd and Market Streets, Lewes, DE on Friday, January 27th at 11 a.m. and burial at Evergreen Burial Park in Roanoke, Virginia on Monday, January 30 at 11 a.m. In Lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Delaware Hospice Center or the Lewes Volunteer Fire Department. The family appreciates the continued love and care from the many caregivers in Becky's life, for their love and commitment to bringing joy to her life.