Ammon John Hill Jr

1934 - 2023

Ammon John Hill, Jr., a former long time Juneau, Alaska resident, and currently of
Mountain Home, Arkansas, passed away on January 14, 2023, in his home in
Mountain Home, Arkansas.
Ammon was born on January 6, 1934, in San Pedro, CA to Ammon John Hill and
Tillie Burgdorff Hill.
He is survived by his fiancée Lynn Slusser of Mountain Home, Arkansas; daughter
Ella Selfridge Panther (David), Seattle, WA; step-daughters Beth Andes-Young
(Tim), Cuba City, WI, Lori Buzzell (Teil), Juneau, AK; step-grandchildren Danti
Andes, Hales Corner, WI, Tyne Andes-Simmons (Marcus), Dubuque, IA, Teilhard
Buzzell, Juneau, AK, and Zachary Young, Ames, IA; step-great granddaughter
Mercedez Simmons, Dubuque, IA and nieces and nephew in California.
He was preceded in death by his parents, half brother Melvin Charles Bowers and
half sister Dorothy Pearl Bowers. He was previously married to Venus Zink and
Janice Reed Hill.
Ammon's life was a smorgasbord. His youngest years were spent in Southern
California. He then moved to Alaska where he stayed for 40 years before moving
to Wisconsin, Illinois and settling in Mountain Home in 2009. His happiest and
fondest memories were from the wilds of Alaska and hearing the cry of the wolf.
Ammon's childhood was heavily influenced by the 1930's depression years and
the 1940's with WWII. He believed the product of the great depression and WWII
was a people that truly formed America's "Greatest Generation." He went to
work at age 15 in his brother's oil field business. He dropped going to college for a
short time and was drafted into the U.S. Army Signal Corp and helped establish
communications for an atomic testing area in Nevada. After the Army he was
hired to write specifications and review Apollo engineering changes for the rocket
that went to the moon. In 1967 he left the missile and rocket programs and went
to Alaska. During that time he spent several years working for federal and local
city engineering offices, purchased and operated an Alaskan gift shop dealing in
Eskimo and Native items, and for several years owned and operated a plumbing
and heating business. During the last years in Alaska, he worked for project
managing firms doing inspection work on construction projects involving high rise

federal buildings, hospitals, installation of sewer and water systems, paving
streets and airplane taxi runway projects. Especially in his early Alaskan days he
spent most of a summer along the Alaskan arctic coast installing aids for
navigation for the U.S. Coast Guard while living on the icebreaker "North Wind".
Ammon enjoyed feeding his family from the wilds of Alaska and went on annual
hunting trips to various locations for moose and deer.
Ammon had a serious side concerning mental illness. He wrote on the subject and
attended "The Alliance on Mental Illness" meetings to help and support those
afflicted and their family members in various parts of the nation.
He enjoyed writing articles and stories on a variety of subjects. These articles and
stories have been published in an Alaskan magazine, local newspapers, even
"Dear Abby". His most recent publication is a book containing several short
stories of his life experiences in Alaska that he had written during the past several
years. That book, "True Stories from the Wilds of Alaska" by Ammon "A.J." Hill,
may be purchased through Amazon.
There will be no funeral services. Ammon just wanted to "get into the ground" so
his family did not have to contend with all the things that go along with funerals
and burials. There will be a small gathering of friends from Mountain Home at a
later date in Mountain Home.