Suzanne A. HILL

WILLIAMSBURG - Suzanne Aileen Doane Hill died on April 25, 2010, in Williamsburg, Va. She was 93.
Suzanne Doane was born March 30, 1917, to Captain and Mrs. George W. Doane at Fort Totten, N.Y. She moved with her mother, Susan Aileen Schmetzer Doane and sister, Margaret Kloman Doane (Peggy) to Phoebus, Va., where the sisters attended the Bryant Kindergarten, Phoebus Elementary and Junior High Schools, and graduated from Hampton High School in 1933. Suzanne attended the College of William and Mary from 1934-1936, and was a member of the Kappa Delta sorority. She was married to Lieutenant Charles W. Hill on Sept. 8, 1936, at the Chapel of the Centurion in Fort Monroe, Va. She then accompanied her husband to Fort Mills, Corregidor, in the Philippines, where Suzanne taught French and Latin at Fort Mills High School, and where their son, Charlie, Jr., was born in 1938. The family returned to Fort Monroe in 1939. Her husband served in the South Pacific during World War II and Suzanne taught at the Fort Monroe preschool. A second son, John Robert, was born at Fort Bliss, Texas, in 1945 and a daughter, Susan Mary, was born at Fort Scott, The Presidio, in California, in 1947.
After WWII, Charles was ordered to Vanderbilt University, where he received his Ph.D. degree in Psychology in 1952. Suzanne returned to school at that time and received her Ph.D. in Psychology at The George Washington University in 1963. She taught at Howard and The George Washington Universities in Washington, D.C. and at the University of New Orleans, retiring as Professor Emeritus in 1987. She then developed a Psychological Clinic for young children and their parents in Covington, La. During Charles' two tours in the Pentagon, Suzanne lived in Alexandria, Va., and McLean, Va. In between the Pentagon duty, the Hills lived in Frankfurt, Germany. During Charles' 26-year Army career, they traveled the world, enjoying all the new and exotic experiences, and they continued such travels into retirement.
She was instrumental in founding the Covington (Louisiana) Head Start Program and the Regina Coeli Family Service Center in Covington. She was active in community service organizations. Known to family and friends as Tutu, she was much loved for her fairness, kindness, intelligence, lovely smile, love of music, and sense of joy and of the ridiculous.
Suzanne moved with her husband to Patriots Colony in Williamsburg, Va., in 1996.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 66 years (April 2003); and her sister, Peggy (August 2009).
She is survived by her sons, Charles Jr. (Nelle) of New Orleans and John (partner, Quenda Shults) of Bisbee, Ariz.; daughter, Susan Hill (husband, Neelon Crawford) of Crowheart, Wyo.; one grandson, Gavin Kanoa Hill (Anna); two granddaughters, Heather Maile Hill Boyter (Russell) and Amelia Hill Shults (partner, Austin Rodgers); and two great-grandsons, Cameron and Zachary Boyter; great-grandchildren Alena Quiroz, Christina Pullan, and A.J. Woods; and great great-grandchildren, Samantha Pullan, and Zackary and Marcus Quiroz.
Her body was donated to science. A Celebration of Life will be held at Patriots Colony at a time to be determined. View and post condolences on our online guestbook at dailypress.com/guestbooks.