Beverly Elaine Hillman

1954 - 2018

May 17, 1954 - March 13, 2018 Beverly Elaine Hillman (née Gemes), 63, died Tuesday, March 13, 2018 at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica from pneumonia following a prolonged battle with cancer.  A native of Southern California, Beverly spent her youth in El Monte and Covina and graduated from South Hills High School in 1972. She and her first husband, Frank Thatcher, welcomed their son Ryan in1975 and settled in Glendora.  Beverly began her career at Glendora Community Hospital where her mother, Sonia Gemes, also worked as Director of Patient Account Services. Always the professional, Beverly bristled at any reference to "[her] mother" and would reply by saying, "you mean Ms. Gemes." Quickly moving through starting positions including data entry, Beverly transitioned to the ER and worked as a triage and admitting clerk where she was highly respected by the medical staff. While still working at Glendora, she began using her acquired knowledge of hospital billing to take on additional contract work conducting hospital bill audits. This unexpected "extra" work came to define her career, eventually leading to the founding of her own business, Medical Auditing Services. MAS performed hospital bill audits, contract payor review and other hospital financial services. For many years MAS was the principal audit consultant for Premera Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska in addition to its other clients throughout the US. Beverly took great pride in her work, not only in the accomplishment of building a successful business, but also in being able to provide work and training for the people she employed.  In 1998, following time spent in Seattle, Beverly returned to California, and married Stephen Alan Hillman, M.D., in Marina Del Rey. In 2001 they moved to their home in the Brookside neighborhood of Los Angeles. As a businesswoman she was driven and ambitious. As an employer she was a self-sacrificing mentor. She was a loving wife and mother and beloved by all her family for her generosity, her humor, her bottomless compassion and her bright spirit.  She is survived by her husband, Dr. Stephen Hillman, her son, Ryan Thatcher, her two grandchildren, her brother David Gemes, and her sisters Mary Ann Martin and Laura Gregoire. She will be dearly missed.  A memorial service will be held at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine on April 28.